Mischievously Managed Brewery
by Mutt N. Feathers
Summary: After the second war, Harry discovers his parents and their friends owned a brewery. Not sure what he wants to do with his life, he decides to become involved in the business. He and Ginny learn much about his parents and their lives.
1. Chapter 1

**Mischievously Managed Brewery**

_**Written by Mutt N Feathers**_

**Chapter 1:**

"**Do What You Have to Do"**

**August 25, 1998**

**Persephone POV:**

I wiped away the fog from the mirror and looked at myself, really looked at myself for the first time in so very long. I wasn't sure who I was looking at. The dark auburn curls were the same, even if I could see the odd wisp of gray here and there. My eyes were still the strange light brown-green-yellow mix they'd always been, even if they didn't smile anymore. Weren't Irish eyes always supposed to smile? I was still covered in freckles, honestly I'm thirty-nine, nearly forty and I've still got the damned splash of brown spots that tumble across my nose and cheeks, dancing between the crows feet I'd developed at the corners of my eyes and up into my hair. The tiny dark prints continued down my neck, across my chest and shoulders and then left a trail southward on my spine. I looked at the pallid woman in the mirror, remembering someone who thought my freckles were tempting when he'd kissed his way around my entire body, 'connecting the dots' as he'd tease…

Stop. Just don't go there. Thinking of him would come to no good.

I stepped from the steamy inner closet of my loo - which held the toilet and shower stall - to the larger bathroom beyond. My mother had put the dammed mirror up in the shower, claiming it helped her make sure she got the soap all out of her hair. I just used my hands to feel for it, but, whatever. It was her house; she could do as she pleased. She's been gone for over ten years, and somehow, I can't bring myself to take the darned thing down. Yet another place where I'd stalled out in my life. When I came back to this house four months ago I was determined to make it my own, and not to simply live in the home my parents had bequeathed to me upon their deaths. I'd done nothing to change any of the rooms, save one. Thoughts of the occupant made me smile. The room deserved to reflect the one living in it. Except of course, nothing had changed in my bedroom; it looked just as it had in my childhood. If I could escape to those days I would...and oh the changes I would make.

I slumped down in the chair at my vanity and ran my fingers through the damp tresses, looking at my face again, dismayed.

"How did you become this person?" I asked her aloud. I was Persephone Gwendolyn MacPhearson, daughter of Robert Walter MacPhearson and Elizabeth Engelsley MacPhearson. I was born to have a charmed life. My father was the liaison between the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards. My mother, an internationally recognized herbologist and apothecary. The seventh daughter, the baby, daddy's little princess. I was to get an education, follow in my mother's career, have my marriage arranged to a fine young man from an upstanding pure-blood line and then have my own children to be raised as I was; pampered, privileged, proud. It was the bedtime fairy tale of my childhood. One out of four isn't that bad…is it? I scoffed at my own stupidity of youth.

In my life, I'd watched as the world I believed I would inherit disappeared. I'd betrayed the only friend who stood by me as I attempted to stand on my own and did not do the one thing she'd asked of me in all the years we'd known each other. I refused marry someone who loved me. I'd left a child alone and unprotected in the world. I watched as the wizarding world nearly collapsed under darkness. I was a miserable failure as a witch, a friend, a daughter, but I was trying now. I had a reason to live a better life. I owed their memories that much.

I lifted my wand and dried my hair, unaccustomed to using magic after so many years of denying myself. There were still many days I found myself doing the tasks of daily life as a Muggle, just because I'd grown accustomed to it. I dug through the vanity drawer and quickly applied a small amount of eye shadow and a light smear of colored lip balm. There wasn't much point in applying much else, I'd be spending my day over hot vats and steaming liquid, more make-up would simply melt away, even if I charmed it. External beauty is a folly from adolescence I'd abandoned long ago.

I dressed quickly in my red and gold pinstripe company logo blouse, chuckling at the embroidery of the silly design we'd come up with all those years ago on a bed in the confines of Gryffindor tower. I added a long, black, pencil skirt which flared at the knees to complete my look. Even on brew days, I was still the boss. I'd much rather be in jeans and a tee shirt, always had. Even when I was young, I hated dressing up, it felt fraudulent even as a youngster. I grabbed the locket from next to my bed, lowered the long chain over my head and let it rest around my neck, pulling my hair out from underneath. I touched the small clasp and it popped open, and I stared at the two similar faces smiling at me. This was something else I was going to need to come clean with, and soon. He had a right to know. The boy, no, he was a man now. He'd proven himself so worthy only months ago, and there are so many things he should know now. I was afraid to tell him, though, because if I was fully honest, he might never want to see me again.

Unfortunately, he'd be completely justified in his actions.

I closed the locket and slid it into my blouse. It would be a conversation for another day, today was simply about business. I slid my feet into the high heels, the distinctive red sole matching my blouse and the company colors perfectly. There wasn't much Muggles did better than wizards, but shoes were definitely one of them. I really didn't need the three-inch heels, I stood nearly six feet when I wore them, I just liked how powerful they made me feel. When I was dressed like this, I could push the memories aside and carry on. I quickly made the bed and then headed downstairs.

It was still early, so the only member of the household awake was Beaghméid, my beloved house elf. She didn't really work for me any longer, but she didn't want to leave either. She now managed my household staff, keeping the MacPhearson estate running and me from slipping into soul crushing despair. She handed me an insulated travel cup of tea just before I left for the day, promising she'd take care of things at home.

"You worry too much, Mistress" she said, shaking her head back and forth and clucking her tongue the way my mum had. I wasn't sure who had picked up the habit from whom. Beaghy was brought into the house when Mummy had been born. She still saw me as Seph MacPhearson, privileged daughter to her true mistress. To the world however, I was Perri Gwynn, a strong, independent business woman who was reliable and trustworthy.

Seph had let too many people down to be any of those things.

"Beaghy, I have a lot on my mind," I dismissed her concerns. "I'll be fine once we get the second plant back up and running. I need to go, I want to review the facility before I have to go and meet…" I paused, "my new partners."

Before she had a chance to say anything else, I slipped out of the front door and into my waiting car. I could Apparate again, I'd renewed my license and no longer had the landing issues that plagued me a few years ago, but I found solace behind the wheel of my car. I turned the stereo up and sang along with the words to the sorrowful song which often played from the tape deck in the dash.

"…_every moment marked with apparitions of your soul…"_

If the others only knew how they haunted me. They were everywhere and in everything I did. Twenty years ago, there were eight of us. We honestly thought we'd all make it out of the war alive and still have each other. Now there was just Eliza and I and she lived in a world of her own making. How Peter could have…? Of all the betrayals, what he did to Eliza was the most personal. He gave James and Lily up to Voldemort, but he'd personally annihilated Eliza's mind and body. She was a mere shell of a human, and there were times I honestly thought death would have been preferable to what she was enduring now.

I was truly alone. I probably deserved it.

As I pulled into the parking lot I pushed the thoughts aside and started to prepare myself for the events of the day. The overnight crew was busily working on the production floor, and I was happy to see the condition of the ingredients. Thankfully, when life was tough, beer sales were strong. Life had been difficult for the last few years, even for the Muggles. We were doing exceptionally well as a business.

I went through my files and paid the bills of the day quickly as well as clearing a few correspondences from my desk. I pulled out the scrapbook I kept in my bottom drawer, and then slid the photos from my desk into the books hiding place. He'd want to see how it all began. I arranged the company clothing I had made for the both of them and pulled the incorporation papers as well as the forms for him to sign, creating a small pile on my desk. I was ready, well not really, but at least I was professionally prepared.

Ten minutes before my meeting I pull my fingers through my hair, loosening some of the tightness of my curls before I twisted it all up into a messy bun and secured it with a set of blunt end pencils I kept on my desk for just such a need. A quick swipe of lip balm and I walked out of my office, headed for the front door. They'd already arrived and were waiting by the front desk. None of the office staff were in yet, so they just stood there, looking around at the pictures and artwork of our lobby. I stopped cold in my tracks as I saw the pair, looking so much like his Mum and Dad that it made tears burn my eyes.

The click of my heels on the polished floor alerted them to my arrival and they turned to greet me. Warm smiles spread across both their faces, and instead of putting me at ease, it made my heart clench even more. I hadn't seen him in two and a half years, not since that last Christmas at Sirius's house. He'd grown since then, taller, broader but also I could see he was so much wiser. She was simply a stunning woman. They looked right together. I could see how much they were in love just by how his hand held hers and she looked upon him in his excitement.

"Harry, Ginny," I said as I lifted my hand to shake theirs each in turn. "Welcome to Mischievously Managed Brewery."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hi everyone, here's the second chapter, as promised. My goal is to post twice weekly, with these shorter chapters. Every chapter is based on a song, this one is one of my favorite Beatles songs. I'm overwhelmed at the response, so keep them coming. Thanks to Arnel for being an amazing beta and for basically begging to beta this story. I don't know what I'd do without her. I'd love to hear what you think is going to happen next. Thanks for reading and reviewing, MNF

**Chapter 2:**

**With A Little Help From My Friends**

**Harry POV:**

Persephone looked much as I'd remembered her, but like all of us, she also looked older. She'd been around when I was at Grimmauld Place my fifth year, as part of the Order, but moreover part of Remus and Sirius's lives. I'd asked after her several times after Sirius died, but Remus replied by saying she was 'doing well'. Even he'd had trouble making contact with her in the last months of the war. I suppose if I were in the business of spying against the Ministry and sneaking information in and out of Britain, I'd make myself hard to get in touch with as well.

"Harry, Ginny, welcome to Mischievously Managed Brewery," she said, her faint brogue lilting over certain vowels and rolling the 'r' in brewery. "I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the place?"

"The directions you provided were fine...erh, what should I call you?" I asked. Remus, and just about everyone else in the Order had called her Seph when she was at Grimmauld Place, but in the literature she sent me, she went by the name Perri.

"Well, the staff all calls me Perri or Ms. Gwynn, however I know you've heard my nickname, so I'll leave it up to you. I started going by Perri when I went into hiding in the first war," she explained quickly. No one ever explained why she had to go into hiding, it was something I hoped I'd come to learn.

"What did my Mum and Dad call you?" I asked, hoping I'd get an answer which would help my decision process.

"They called me Seph," she replied with a faint smile crossing her lips. She then cocked her lip up, "or your Dad called me George" I looked at her puzzled.

"Why on earth would my Dad call you George?"

"I was the quietest of the quartet of girls, really the quietest of us all. I generally agreed with what others wanted, did what was required of me and stayed out of the hot tempered arguments between folks. He said I reminded him of George Harrison, from the Beatles. The band wouldn't be the same without him, but he also didn't make waves. I suppose it was a term of endearment..." She suddenly looked forlorn, and I regretted making her sad. Ginny squeezed my hand.

"Why don't you call me …" she trailed off before taking a shuttering breath, suddenly looking unsure of what she wanted.

"Why don't we just see what happens naturally," Gin suggested and I was relieved she was with me. She usually knew the best thing to say in the midst of an uncomfortable situation.

"That sounds like a plan," Seph remarked with a nod of her head. "Come on, they should be just about ready to move the mash and then I can explain the process of brewing beer to you."

We followed her through a pair of glass doors into a small dressing room where she handed us some strange white coats and things to put over our hair and shoes.

"If we'd been at the magical brewery, this wouldn't be necessary," she said. "We charm the vats to keep foreign objects out. I can't do that much spell work here, not by myself anyway, so we need to cover up. Finding someone's hair in your beer isn't good for business," Seph explained.

We walked into the main brewing room, and the staff greeted Seph warmly and were polite and respectful to both Ginny and me. An older man named Walter, who Seph explained was her 'brewmaster', hugged not only the boss but Ginny as well. He was a hearty man, ruddy cheeks and bright eyes. He looked not too dissimilar from Uncle Vernon; Walter, however, was a happy man and I took an instant liking to him.

"Well, look at you," he said as he took my hand between both of his huge ones, "you are the spitting image of your father. One of the finest men I'd ever known, your grandfather as well. Started working for old Albert when I was just a boy, tending his horses. When your dad started this place, he offered me a job on the floor and I've worked my way up. Great man you dad was."

"Thank you for saying so," I responded.

"Walter here will have lots of stories for you. Anytime you're ready to hear about what problems we were as kids, he'll fill you in," Seph urged while she patted him on the shoulder.

"You knew my Dad as a kid?" Walter nodded with a hearty laugh.

"Knew him, practically grew up before my eyes," he explained. "This little lady here, too. Watched her grow from pigtails to those high heels of hers." Seph shook her head and blushed.

"Your dad, your godfather, Eliza, Sibéal and I, we were all friends from pretty much birth," Seph explained. "Drove Walter and his horses crazy when we were at the Potter house. I think James gave him the job as a way to thank him for putting up with our antics as children." Seph might have sounded joyful, but there was a wistful air in her eyes which betrayed her timbre.

"Don't let her fool ya," Walter contradicted her, "this pretty one here was always the most polite of the bunch." Seph shook her head, ever so slightly and then indicated we should follow along. Walter stayed with us and between the two of them Ginny and I were introduced to the entire process of beer brewing. After several hours on "the floor," we were all covered in a light sheen of sweat and hungry. We removed our coats, booties and hair nets and retired to Seph's office, which overlooked both the brewing room and the lobby.

She indicated we should take some seats and then picked up the telephone on her desk and pushed a few numbers.

"Kate, could you bring in the food I'd ordered as well as several bottles of the MMB?" Seph paused and I could faintly hear the woman responding. "Thanks." Seph hung up the phone and turned to face us, lowering herself into the chair behind the desk.

"Lunch will be here in a minute," she explained. "There's a great deli down the street we have a relationship with. In fact, one of our newest beers was developed to go with their dessert buffet. Moonlit Memories is a sweet brown stout which works well with their pasties and pies."

"Wow. I didn't know you could pair beer with different foods," I remarked, feeling like a bit of a fool. I knew nothing of beer, especially Muggle beer, and here I was, part owner of a brewery.

"You can. It's something I can explain to you in the future. For now, though, I'm certain you have some pertinent or relevant questions for me?"

I looked at Ginny and she stared back at me. The office became unpleasantly quiet and I was thankful when Seph started talking again.

"Let's do it this way, then; why don't I tell you the story of how this began?" I nodded eagerly. "Here, follow along with this," she directed even as she lifted the large, leather bound book from her desk. "Your mum was never without her camera, documented everything."

"I didn't know that," I whispered even as I was lifting the cover of the book to reveal the first page. It was a large picture of eight students sitting and lounging around a strange-looking machine in what appeared to a bedroom in Gryffindor tower. I shifted the book so Ginny could look along with me.

"There you see the founding members of Mischievously Managed Brewery: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans, Eliza Houghton, Sibéal Cinneidigh and me, Persephone MacPhearson. That picture was taken the night we created the first drinkable batch of beer from that monstrosity behind us. We were in the first term of our seventh year. We should have been revising, instead we were brewing."

"How did you get started brewing? And why were you using such a strange machine?" The questions started to tumble out of me, even as I watched the smiling, waving teens in the picture.

"How much do you know about your Grandfather Potter, Harry?" Seph asked and I shook my head at her. "That's where to start them. Your grandfather, Albert Charles Potter was a brilliant attorney. He served as the lead prosecutor for the office of Magical Law Enforcement and was also in the Crown Prosecutors office in the Muggle world. He was such a good man. He treated everyone, Muggle, wizard, half-breed, goblin, elf, everyone with respect. He wanted your dad to follow in his footsteps, study law and bridge the two worlds. Your dad wasn't really the desk job sort of fellow," she explained with remorse in her words.

"Anyway, Albert took James and Sirius to Oxford the summer before our seventh year. He hoped he'd convince James to enrol at University, working on his magical law degree first, and then finishing up with his Muggle one. The guys didn't take well to the studying part of the uni experience, but they were intrigued by the partying part of it. One day, while Albert was meeting with some former classmates, James and Sirius toured the town, coming across the Hook Norton Brewery. They took a tour, sampled the wares and the rest is history. They came up with the hare-brained idea they could brew beer in the Gryffindor tower."

"How did you not get caught?" I asked.

"Ah, well the Head Boy that year was your dad and Remus was a prefect. When we girls came in, your mum was Head Girl. As long as McGonagall stayed out of the boys' dormitory, which she did, there wasn't anyone to catch us. Even if she'd found out, your dad and godfather could have charmed the skin off a snake. She had quite a soft spot for them both."

"Harry's has her around his little finger, too," Ginny added and I playfully punched her.

"I do not," I rebuked.

"Oh, no, it was everyone she hugged and kissed on the cheek last week at the Hogwarts re-dedication," Gin sarcastically added.

"Fine, she likes me," I relented.

"I'm not surprised," Seph said with a chuckle, "you should have seen her with you when you were a baby."

"McGonagall knew me as a baby?" I was stunned, she'd never let on that she knew me that well before school started.

"As I said, your mother was all about the pictures. I'll find the albums and bring them to you. It's your past, you should have them," Seph explained and I was excited. I'd revelled in the stories people used to tell me about my parents, but now I'd get to see them, see what their lives were like and who they were close to.

"So, anyway, James and Sirius came up this silly idea. They persuaded Remus to be involved, which is good because he was the only one of us who was mechanically inclined. They started attempting to brew, but the early batches were horrible. Smelled bad, tasted worse. Remus asked Lily and me to come help – your dad was too proud to ask your mum for help yet – since potions and Herbology were our strong suits. They guys were trying to take short cuts, even with magic you can't rush certain aspects of brewing beer. Eventually, all eight of us were spending as much time brewing as we were revising.

"When school ended, none of us were really sure what we wanted to do, except for your dad and Sibeal. Your dad was set on becoming an Unspeakable, Sibéal an astronomer. Since the rest of us weren't sure what to do, and it was obvious that the world was changing, we figured brewing beer was a good way to avoid growing up. That all changed about six weeks before school ended," Seph wasn't looking at us anymore, she was staring out the window onto the production floor.

I turned the page to find two nearly identical pictures of the group, facing each other through the folds of the album. The left side one showed the eight at Hogsmeade Station, Dad has his arm around Mum, Sirius was pulling on the ponytail of the shortest girl, Remus laughing at something Wormtail had said. It hurt to see him happy with my parents, knowing what he'd do to them. Seph was the only person in the picture who didn't look happy. She looked frightened.

The picture on the right was taken outside King's Cross in London, and while they were dressed the same, there was something off about the picture.

"Seph," I called to her and she turned back to face us, her cheeks tear stained, "why aren't you in the picture in London?"

"That was the day Persephone MacPhearson disappeared."


	3. Chapter 3

******Author's Note: Hi all, thanks so much for your support of the story, I am truly overwhelmed. The song for this chapter is "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan. Thanks to my beta, Arnel, who is not only great at whipping my writing into shape, but she's so much fun to spend time with too. Some answers are in this chapter, but everything isn't going to be spelled out just yet. Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing. Enjoy, MNF**

**Chapter 3:**

**"I Will Remember You"**

Harry POV:

"Seph, how could you have disappeared? You're right here, in front of us?" I questioned. She turned to look at us, and it was only now I saw the tears streaking her cheeks.

"Harry, Persephone MacPhearson disappeared, Perri Gwynn was born that day. It's a very long and complex story I'm quite certain will bore you," she explained, even her voice sounding distant. "There are only a handful of people left who would even know to call me Seph anymore. The rest have all..." she ran her hands over her cheeks and then back through her hair, pulling it out of the bun it had been in when we were on the brewing floor. She then squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and something changed within her. "Anyway, about how MMB started -"

A knock on the door interrupted her. She reached over and opened it, letting in an older woman carrying two large trays of food as well as a small paperboard box with some bottles in it. I stood up quickly as to help her, as did Seph. Once everything was set up on the small table in the office, Seph put a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, this is Kate Montgomery, my true right hand woman around this place," she explained. Kate's hair was a salt and pepper grey, pulled up into a fancy twist which hung down her back. She had on a similar shirt to Seph's, bearing the colourful logo of the brewery as well. She was a round woman, not fat but not skinny like Seph or athletic like Ginny. She was short, her head only coming up to Seph's shoulder. She was wearing some multi-coloured trainers on her feet, which I found quite amusing. "Kate, Harry is James and Lily's son," Seph explained and Kate's eyes grew wide.

"Of course he is," she said as she grabbed me and gave me a squeeze. I wasn't sure what was going on with these Muggles, but they were very touchy sorts of folks. "My heavens you look like him, but those eyes, oh they're like your mum's. They were such happy people, always smiling and laughing..." Kate blushed a little as she smiled, seemingly happy in whatever memory she was replaying. "Gave birth to my youngest the same month you were born." The phone rang and she jumped a little. "Can't seem to ever leave that desk," she muttered before she left the office, the door clicking shut behind her.

"Kate's been the receptionist and all around mother hen since the place opened. She spoiled all of us, and I assume she'll pamper you, too. She breezes around the place, remembers everyone's name and celebrates every employee's birthday. I'd be lost without her. Please, sit down, have something to eat. I had Kate bring up some of our signature brew, the MMB, but if you'd rather drink something else -"

"After spending all morning watching it being made, I want to see what it tastes like," Ginny excitedly remarked.

"Gin, I know enough about beer to know it isn't like Butterbeer," I warned her. "You can get drunk off this stuff."

"One bottle isn't going to make me drunk," she answered, sounding irritated. Seph handed us each a bottle from the little box and a plate from one of the platters Kate had brought in. I stared at the beer for a moment, trying to figure out how to open it. Ginny must have had the same concern, as she was drawing her wand from her back pocket.

"Sorry, Ginny," Seph stated as she lifted her hands in front of her in a motion to indicate stop, "magic is strictly forbidden here. I have never done spells in the building, since the staff is almost all Muggle; the exception is Walter, he's a squib. For the longest time I couldn't risk the Ministry knowing about this place or that I was here. Why don't you use this bottle opener instead." Seph grabbed the metal stick from the tray and demonstrated how to open the bottle, the bottle cap popping off and a slight mist coming up from the neck and out the opening.

Ginny repeated the action, as did I and then Seph tipped her bottle toward us, and we clinked the necks before taking a swig in unison. It definitely didn't taste like Butterbeer, nor did it taste like Firewhiskey. It was completely different from anything I'd sampled, but I liked it. By the face Ginny was making it was obvious she didn't.

"Not to your liking?" Seph asked her, a smile creeping across her lips despite her attempt to not let it.

"It's..." Ginny pursed her lips together and I could tell her tongue was moving around in her mouth,"... it tastes bitter and tart and like the potion Mum gave me when I had an upset stomach as a child." I nearly spit out my mouthful at her comment.

"I have never quite heard beer described that way," Seph laughed. "Okay, well an Ordinary Bitter isn't your brew. Would you like something else?" Ginny nodded. "A different beer or some juice."

"I think I'll go with juice this time," Ginny stated as she put the beer on the table and reached to take a sandwich and some crisps. Seph called out to Kate again, asking for some juice to be brought in. I took another swig, appreciating the subtle flavours the beer contained and then grabbed myself some lunch. It couldn't have been a minute before Kate came back in, bottles of apple juice in her hands. She handed them to Seph and was able to exit the door before it had even closed from her trip in.

"Thanks, Kate," Seph said to the older woman's back.

The juice was more to Ginny's liking and once we were all settled down with our food, Seph started talking again.

"So, where was I?" I was about to remind her we were talking about Persephone disappearing when she started back into the story. "Ah, yes, we decided to open the brewery. The original plan was to only open a Wizarding one; however, a rather disturbing surprise necessitated my living in the Muggle world. Your dad is the one who came up with the idea of having two breweries. Money became the next issue. Our group ran the gamut on family and personal wealth - your Dad, Sirius and Eliza being at one end and Remus and Sibéal being at the other. We wanted to be equal partners, not having someone having more power than anyone else. Your Mum came up with the idea that everyone would contribute what they could, but it would be a secret as to how much each person had added to the pot. We opened a separate account at Gringotts and each person deposited what they could. Those were our start up funds. Regardless of what anyone put in, we each owned an eighth of the company. As we lost people over the years, we've come down to just five shares." The last sentence was barely a whisper.

"Five?" I questioned, "who is there besides you and me?"

"Well, Eliza is still alive, but she requires full time in-patient care. The brewery pays her bills, even if it's more than her share. When it happened, Remus, Sirius, Sibéal and I amended the corporation papers to provide for her. Just so you're aware, it isn't something I'm willing to discuss changing.

"Since his death, Remus's share is sent to Andi Tonks to help with raising little Teddy. I have my share and you have both your mum and dad's. You technically own a bigger portion of this place than I do. Be kind, boss," she attempted to joke, but none of us laughed.

"I don't need both their shares," I protested.

"No, keep them, share them with your girlfriend there," she nodded toward Ginny. "I promise, there are plenty of profits to go around." I nodded in response. Seph closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. I glanced at Ginny and she was watching the older woman as well. No one said anything for a few minutes, so we simply ate in silence. I finished the beer and reached for Ginny's unfinished one. Ginny mouthed "say something" to me, but I had no idea what to say, so I shrugged my shoulders. Gin shook her head, rolled her eyes and then spoke.

"Seph," Ginny called the woman and she looked up, "how many types of beer do you brew here?"

"Good question," she replied. "We have four standard brews, one semi-seasonal and four seasonal brews. The MMB or Magical Mischief Brew is the first one we came up with. It's an Ordinary Bitter, and it's a very common style in England. As I said, we just developed Moonlit Memories, which is a sweet brown beer. We've also brew Padfoot's Pride, an English Porter and a Scottish Ale called Stag's Surprise."

"Interesting names," I quipped.

"Yes, well naming the beers were the only contentious discussions we ever had," Seph explained. "Peter always wanted his own way...how we didn't see his issues before..." she looked pained as she spoke about him.

"Was he really their friend?" I had to ask. Somehow, in my head it made it easier to believe he wasn't really their friend. I couldn't even imagine Hermione or Ron betraying me. I needed Peter to be an acquaintance, rather than someone they trusted.

"He certainly seemed to be our friend, but," she hesitated on the word and then looked past us, as if she wasn't speaking to Gin and I, but rather a memory. "He constantly needed assurances. He was uncertain in everything he did, schoolwork, flying, dressing himself when we went into Hogsmeade..." Seph shook her head, as if she were shaking away the memory.

"Back to the beer. Our semi-seasonal is called Lover's Libation and we only brew two batches a year. We first made it to serve at your mum and dad's wedding. It's a Welsh Bragawd, so it's very sweet and heavily spiced. It's also one of the few brews meant to be served at room temperature or warmer," she explained. "It's my favourite."

"If you like it so much, why make so little?" I asked.

"It's a completely different process to make it. We have to shut down production, clean and sterilize the machines and then reconfigure them to make it. Financially, it doesn't make sense to do it very often."

"Okay."

"We also make four seasonal beers: a winter Porter, a spring Irish Red Ale, a summer golden wheat IPA or India Pale Ale and a fall Lager. We'll start the fall brew in another couple of weeks. Again, these are smaller batches, and when they're gone, they're gone for the year," she explained and while I wasn't sure I completely understood why you'd only make something available for a few months, I felt confident she knew the reasoning behind the decision.

We'd finished eating and Seph suggested we move back to the desk area where she had some papers for me to sign. She explained the incorporation papers, as well as my contract. While she suggested I have a solicitor look at it, I declined. If my parents had been involved and they trusted her, I couldn't see a reason why I shouldn't as well. Seph was showing Ginny some clothing she had piled on a low table behind her desk. I took the photo album back and briefly looked at the two nearly identical pictures, wondering what happened between Hogsmeade Station and King's Cross. While the seven were smiling in the second picture, it seemed somehow forced.

I flipped through several more pages, laughing at some of the poses. Sirius was obviously the joker of the bunch, he was nearly always laughing and it made me smile. He hadn't been this carefree when I'd known him.

"You look rather happy there, Harry. What are you looking at?" Seph asked even as Ginny came over and sat down next to me again.

"Sirius," I explained. "He seems happy. He was my godfather, did you know that?" Seph went white and stumbled back into her chair.

"I did know that," she answered, even through her laboured breaths. "Don't let the smile fool you, he wasn't all about the jokes. He often laughed through his tears." She was lost in thought again, but as rapidly as it started, it stopped. Seph put her hands on her desk, stood up and went to the door.

"Well, it's late and we've covered the essentials. I'll see you in two days at the other site and you can see how we get the beers started. Thanks so much for coming in today."

Seph opened up the door and then grabbed the clothing pile, nearly shoving it toward Ginny. We made our hasty goodbyes and before we knew it, Gin and I were in the parking lot.

"Wow, what just happened?" I asked her.

"I think we touched on a raw nerve," she answered. "Come on, let's get home. Mum's making dinner and wants to hear all about today. Maybe she or Dad can shed some light on who Persephone was or something about her family. I get the feeling she's keeping secrets."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey, sorry it's a day late. Next weeks chapters will be on Monday and Thursday, I promise. The chapter is named after the Madness song, and it really does remind me of the Weasley household. **

**I have a VERY BIG announcement: My Original Novel, "The Faerie Queen Chronicles: Ascension" is available through Amazon! My professional pen name is Austin Taggart. The book is in the fantasy genre, revolving around faeries, angels, demons and witches. Several of my favorite FF fans have read it and given it their approval. **

**Thanks for letting me tout myself a little there. Anyway, on with the chapter. **

**MNF**

**Chapter 4:**

**"Our House"**

Ginny POV:

"I still think she was hiding something," I told Harry as we both arrived on the dusty lane, not far from the Burrow. "She was acting too strange just before we left."

"Yes, she's hiding things, but I don't blame her," he responded. "Can you imagine losing EVERYONE in your life? Her parents are both dead, all of her friends…I don't even know if she has any other family, or if she really is alone now."

"My parents must know something, it's not like there were many secrets in the Order. Maybe we can ask them," I suggested and Harry stopped us before kissing me, his tongue dancing with mine. I stopped us from continuing our embrace, since we were standing in the middle of the lane, out where anyone could see us.

"As much as I'm enjoying that, I think we should wait until we're alone later." Harry got a very knowing look on his face, and he seemed excited about the prospect.

"Fine, Miss Weasley, we'll wait for later, but you'd better make good on that promise," he teased and I wiggled my eyebrows before taking off, running a few steps ahead of him. He quickly caught up. I took his hand and we passed through the charms protecting my family's home and walked up to the front door.

Upon entering the house, we found everyone was there, I shook my head at the full house. Bill and Fleur were here, theoretically for supper, as were Ron and Hermione, who were now living in Grimmauld Place with Harry and I. Charlie and George were living here with Mum and Dad, although I expected them both to be returning to their lives shortly, well at least Charlie. George was still rather lost. Ron and Hermione had been running the store in his absence. There were times when the house was overflowing, and then there were times it would seem empty. Today was a full day.

It wasn't like Harry and I were planning on keeping information to ourselves, but it would be impossible to withhold anything now. My family was entirely too nosey. All of their heads turned toward us, expectantly, and then the questions began.

"How was it?'

"Did you bring home any samples?"

"Are you drunk?"

"Did you mess it up?"

"Do they really do it without any magic?"

"Stop, stop," Harry pleaded, waving his hands in front of his face while laughing. "We'll tell you about it, but can we at least get in the door?" Mum came forward and put her hands on either side of his face.

"Of course you can dear, come in, supper will be ready in just a little while," she told him and then turned to me. "Ginny dear, did you really wear that blouse out in public?"

"Hi to you too, Mum," I groused. I looked down at my halter top and wondered what was wrong with it. "Yes, this is the shirt I've been wearing all day, what's wrong with it?"

"No one needs to know your chest is freckled as well," she stated in her almost disgusted way. I looked down and I suppose it was a little low cut, but I liked it. More importantly, Harry liked how I looked wearing it. I nodded a little, deciding getting into an argument with Mum about my clothes wouldn't help anyway. Besides, I was seventeen - an adult - and old enough to pick out my own clothing.

"So, Harry, is everything really done like Muggles do?" Dad asked, his face alight with excitement. Dad's obsession with all things Muggle was odd, and if I was honest, a tad embarrassing. Harry took my hand and pulled me over to sit next to him and began recounting our day, going over the entire process of beer making without it being boring or technical. Harry really did have a gift for explaining things and sharing information. It was nearly time to sit down to eat when we'd finished the discussion.

"What I don't understand, Mr. Potter, is why you didn't bring any of your wares home to sample," Charlie complained.

"You know, I didn't even think about it, Charlie. I promise, the next time we're at the brewery, we'll bring you home some," Harry promised and my brother looked pleased.

"How was Perri?" Mum called out from the kitchen. I was surprised to hear her referred to as Perri, since I figured my parents would have called her Seph, like Sirius and Remus had.

"Good I guess," I called back, "a little strange right at the end of our time together. She sort of shooed us out of her office, rather abruptly." Mum came to stand in the doorway between the kitchen and the lounge.

"She's been through a lot, poor girl. Come on, you lot, supper is ready." We all stood and processed into the kitchen, squeezing all of us around the table. I was happy to see George downstairs today, sharing in the meal with the family, rather than eating alone in his room or outside by the pond.

Conversation died out as we passed the dishes around, filling our plates and then beginning to eat.

"So, did Perri tell you anything interesting about your parents?" Mum asked Harry and he smiled broadly as he started to answer her.

"She did, telling me about how Dad and Sirius had gotten the idea for the brewery and then getting the rest of them involved. She had lots of pictures as well. Did you know my Mum carried her camera everywhere?"

"I seem to remember her with it," Dad answered.

"I'm so glad she's able to share that with you," Mum added. "Perri will be a wealth of knowledge."

"Mum, why do you call her Perri, not Seph?" I asked.

"Ah, well…she was introduced to the Order as Perri Gwynn. I didn't even realize she was one of the MacPhearson girls until several years later," she explained.

"MacPhearson girls?" Harry queried. "You mean she had sisters?"

"Has," Mum corrected, "although I don't know if she is contact with them. Her disappearance took it's toll on her family."

"She mentioned that she 'disappeared' or at least Seph Mac Phearson did," I commented, "but she didn't go into details. What happened?"

"There was some legal issue -" Mum started.

"Molly, I don't think we should be talking about this," Dad interrupted. "It's her story, and we don't know all of it."

"Arthur, they're working with her," Mum countered.

"All the more reason to let her share the story," Dad retorted. Mum huffed and the rest of us were silent, our heads following the conversation between the ends of the table, heads turning as if we were watching a Quidditch match, the Quaffle going back and forth between goals. "What Minerva told us was in confidence. I don't think we should break it, even now." I rarely saw my Dad stern, at least not with Mum. Right now he looked much like he did when he was reprimanding us.

"Fine," Mum relented. "We can at least tell them about the family. I'm still friendly with Pandora and Archibald." Dad nodded his response while pushing his peas onto his knife.

"Pandora and Archibald?" I asked, the names didn't sound familiar at all.

"Dora and Archie Sunjay," Mum explained. "Friends of ours from school. Dora's the third of the MacPhearson girls. Both she and her husband were in Ravenclaw, but we had several NEWT classes together. Is Archie back to work, dear?"

"Head of the Muggle Relations Department," Dad confirmed. "Bit of an odd move from Magical Law Enforcement over to MR, but Kingsley needed someone who's attitude was above reproach. Archie is certainly that."

"True, true," Mum agreed with him. I wanted to ask about Perri and her sisters, but conversation just kept moving around it, and I never got a quiet moment. Honestly, I'm as interested in Quidditch as everyone else, but do we really need to go over the Chudley Cannons record again, Ron?

After coffee and pie, I hung around in the kitchen to help Mum clean up, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to ask about Seph.

"Mum, really, what can you tell me about Seph or her family?"

"Go get Harry, I'll put the kettle on," she said quietly and I went and found my boyfriend sitting under the large tree in the back garden, just staring at the clouds.

"Knut for your thoughts?" I asked as I reached for his hand to pull him up.

"Don't need a knut, but I would like a kiss," he suggested and who was I to deny him such a thing. "Just thinking about everything we learned today. What sort of legal matter could Seph have gotten herself into which would lead to her disappearing?"

"I don't know, but I suspect it's something bad. Come on, Mum has some things to share with us about the MacPhearson girls and Seph." We walked back into the house where Mum had already set out the tea pot and the cups and saucers. We sat back down, Harry and I across from her.

"The first thing you need to know about the MacPhearson family is they are as old and as Pureblood as they come. They're not haughty about it, like the Malfoys, but Robert certainly believed that those with "untainted blood" should be given preference. The MacPhearsons had seven daughters, Persephone was the youngest of them, and if I may say so myself, the most spoiled of all of them," Mum explained.

"The woman we met today didn't seem at all spoiled," I countered, "instead she seemed downright humble."

"I said she was spoiled, but she lost that while she was in school. I would venture a guess that your dad and grandfather had a great deal to do with that," Mum continued as she looked at Harry. "Persephone didn't know any better before she got to Hogwarts anyway, not the way those girls were raised. From the day they were born their heads were filled with duty and honor and little else," she said a little disgusted. I looked at Harry, who mirrored my puzzled look.

"Duty and honor aren't bad things, Mrs. Weasley," Harry pointed out.

"No, they're not, but when it's all you're given and all that is pounded into your head from birth, it can make you…" she paused. "The MacPhearson's raised their daughters to be proper young women, who would be exceptional wives for their arranged husbands. As children they were taught the skills a gentlewoman would need - knitting, sewing, floral arranging, stitchery, table-settings. They didn't learn household spells mind you, those were left for the house-elves. Instead they were prepared for married life. Dora had told me about her summers in Switzerland and learning about wine and speaking French and Italian with ease. But there was always something off about how she described it, like she didn't want to be there or something. Your Auntie Muriel had wanted me to grow up this way, but my Mum wanted nothing to do with it."

"Thank you for not raising me that way," I announced.

"Ginny, sweetheart, the world had already changed too much for you to have ever been raised as a gentlewoman," Mum said quietly, sadly.

"It almost sounds like they were some sort of royalty or something," Harry interjected.

"Well, in a way they were," Mum answered. "The family was not only respected for the length of their family line, but also the positions they held. Robert MacPhearson was the liaison to the ICW for Britain and was internationally respected. Her mother, Elizabeth, inherited the Engelsley chain of Apothecary shops and Perri was to follow in her mother's footsteps, along with her sister, Paget."

"I can't think of any Apothecary shops, Mrs. Weasley. Where were they located?" Harry asked.

"All over, but they were destroyed by Death Eaters, beginning in '77. Paget lost her husband, Harlan, in the attack on the store on Diagon Alley. She was a little older than your father and I, and in Slytherin House. I remember Dora telling us how lost she was after her husband had been killed. She died less than two years later, probably of a broken spirit," Mum explained.

"Why? She was young, she could have remarried," I suggested.

"No, the MacPhearson girls wouldn't have ever remarried. A second marriage wasn't something which could be arranged." I looked at Mum puzzled.

"Why couldn't she just find herself a husband?"

"Ginny, dear, for Pure-blood girls like Paget and her sisters were taught to believe that arranged marriages were the only way to be assured of having a good marriage. They didn't date while they were at school, any of them. On occasion Dora would go to a function with a friend, but there wasn't a romantic overtone to the event. They were to be for their husband alone, body, heart, soul and mind. For families that adhered to the old ways, girls were commodities which were used to assure the stature of the family. Without a husband, they considered themselves nothing," Mom explained and I was outraged.

"We aren't commodities!" Mum reached across the table and took my right hand while Harry had my left twined with his.

"Of course not, sweetheart," Harry said as he kissed my cheek. "I'd never see you as something to be used like that, nor will I think that way about our future daughters." I calmed down at his words.

"Thank you," I whispered before I kissed him.

"Yes, well you two make sure those daughters are well off in the future," Mum said with a pat of my hand.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," Harry quickly responded. I couldn't stifle the yawn which crept up from the pit of my stomach and overtook me. I looked out the window and noticed the sun had set and the sky was an inky purple. "It appears someone is ready to go to sleep?" Harry asked and I nodded.

"Go on then," she said as she stood and used her wand to direct the dishes to the sink. "Are we still on to go to the beauty parlor tomorrow?"

"Yes, Mum, it's about time you did something different with your hair," I teased and she simply huffed and shook her head.

"Why don't you all plan to come over on Wednesday for dinner at our place. We'll have been at the Magical brewery that day, and I'm sure we'll have more stories to share," Harry suggested and Mum nodded as she opened her mouth to speak. "No, you can't bring anything. Hermione, Ginny and I are more than capable of making dinner."

"Ron doesn't cook?" We both started laughing at the question.

"He burns nearly everything," I explained. "It's just better if he stays out of the kitchen altogether." Mum nodded, knowingly and we passed through the lounge, saying goodnight to Dad and Charlie, who were playing Wizards Chess. George had retreated back to Bill's old room. He'd moved his things into the space, unable to be in the room he'd shared with Fred.

"Fine, fine then. Sleep well you two," Mum called as we walked out the door and toward the lane to Apparate to Grimmauld Place.

"Harry, you're not really planning on going to bed yet?" I asked.

"Bed, yes. Sleep, no." He wrapped his arms around my waist and mine wrapped around his neck. One moment we were on the lane, the next we were in our bedroom.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hi, here's chapter 5, back to Persephone's voice, she the least chipper of them. The title comes for a song by Gaelic Storm. I do suggest listening to it while you read. For anyone who is a fan of Anwen/Sirius and the gang from either the "Continuum" series or the "Bound" series, a new story featuring them is up called "Growing Up with Mum and Dad...". I just started posting it last week, and I will do so either weekly or every other week on Sunday. Thanks to everyone who is reading and those who review. I love to hear your theories on what is happening. Clue's a plenty in this chapter, can you find them? MNF**

**Chapter 5:**

**"The Long Way Home"**

**Persephone POV:**

I groaned as my alarm went off, I hadn't been asleep for at least an hour, but I didn't want to get up either. As I'd promised Harry, I spent yesterday going through the albums of photos of my friends as we grew up. The earliest picture of James and I together was from his first birthday. Sirius was there too, Sibéal came along by the time we were four, the rest when we went to school at eleven. I had an entire trunk filled with albums, journals and recipe books from the life of one of Harry's parents. Going through them, however, had been painful for me.

I threw my arm over my eyes, hoping to block the sun out for a few more minutes; I needed to mentally prepare myself for the day. I had been so rude to Harry and Ginny on Monday afternoon, throwing them out of my office as I had. I wished I could explain to them what hearing Sirius' name and his relationship to Harry did to me. James had made Sirius promise him to care for Harry if anything happened to him, Lily had made me swear the same oath. Needless to say, I'd failed miserably on that count.

I thought back to the times when I'd gone to check up on Harry, watching him at school, through the gates on the play-yard. I could have picked him out of a thousand children; it wasn't hard as he was the spitting image of his dad. When he was first in his reception class, I was routinely disgusted with the outfits he wore, wondering where the clothes I had sent him were. I always had presents delivered for his birthday and for Christmas, but I never saw him playing with the toys or wearing the outfits. I suspected they were given to his obnoxious cousin instead. After two years of watching him, I finally decided sending things to the Dursley's was a lost cause. I would continue to have things given to him at his aunt's house, but I also needed a back-up. One day I and went to speak with the head of his school, who, as it turned out, was concerned about Harry as well. Together we arranged for Harry to get new shoes - he kept them in his cubby at school - so at least he had proper footwear for athletics and recess. I provided him with a winter coat and boots and even knitted him new mittens every year. Eventually, the school stopped contacting the Dursley's when Harry needed supplies for a project or money for a day trip, and just let me provide for him.

Twice I attempted to confront Vernon and Petunia, but each time Dumbledore showed up as I rounded the drive and stopped me. He told me his concern was Lily's sister would insist I take Harry from her. I assured Dumbledore it was what Lily and James had wanted, and he'd be perfectly safe with me. I had been in hiding longer than his parents, and no one knew where I was unless I wanted them to. He flatly refused to let me take him, saying he needed to remain with his 'blood relatives'. The term hurt. While I wasn't a close blood relation of James, we were truly barely related, he was my brother in every other way. Lily meant more to me than any of my sisters. Those things should have been enough.

Relations were already strained between the Hogwarts Headmaster and me by the time I witnessed how poorly Harry's relatives treated him. When I heard they'd arrested Sirius on charges of betraying James and Lily, I was outraged. How anyone who'd known either of the men could honestly believe Sirius would betray James was beyond me? Yet, so many people did, including the Headmaster, who had entrusted both men to do very important and delicate missions for the Order. How his opinion of Sirius turned so quickly, I will never understand. Dumbledore had to know Sirius would have cut off his right leg before he'd let any harm come to his best friend, Lily and their son. Apparently, though, my word wasn't enough to go on, especially since, as he put it, 'I was unavailable to speak to the Wizengamot on Sirius' behalf'. It was a low blow, especially due to the reason I was in hiding. He never went to Sibéal, Eliza or Remus to ask their opinions on the subject. Stymied in my caring for either of them, I did what I could, but it was insignificant in the grand picture of things.

I sighed and threw the covers off me. I needed to get up, get moving on the day and not allow myself to wallow in my sea of "what-ifs" and "could haves". It wouldn't have been too difficult to drown in them. I couldn't allow it, though, I now had others who were depending on me. They deserved to have me at least attempt to embrace my continued existence.

Lacking the energy to really bathe, I simply did some cleansing charms and then pulled my hair into a messy ponytail. I pulled out a long-sleeved jersey shirt, the magical logo on this one, and a pair of jeans for today; the new plant was nearly finished, but it would be still be messy. I was thankful for a day to 'dress down' and wear my more comfortable clothing. I pulled my running shoes from the bottom of the wardrobe and slid my feet into them. The last thing I added was my locket, safely hiding it under my shirt and near my heart. The two occupants certainly resided there. A flick of my wand made my bed and sent my nightclothes to the hook in the loo to await my night time retrieval.

I peeked into the bedroom down the hall, and found the bed empty and the room a bit of a mess. "Typical," I mumbled before I swished the wand and set it to rights. Beaghy didn't need to be cleaning in here.

As I headed down the stairs, I could hear everyone else was gathered in the dining room. The MacPhearson property employed many people, some in the Great House and others in the fields. Once a month they all gathered for breakfast, I had almost forgotten today was the monthly get together. I rounded the corner, walked into the large room and took my seat at the head of the table. Warm salutations were sent my way from those gathered, and I returned them with as much gratitude as I could muster.

The smallest member of the household, Connor, was enthusiastic in his welcoming of me this morning. At nineteen months old, he was precocious and inquisitive. His lopsided smile was covered in Elderberry jam, which caused me to stifle a laugh. Elizabeth wiped his face in a motherly way, removing the purple goo from his sweet face.

"So Master Connor, what are your plans for the day?" I asked him.

"Go see Mada and Eddie," he replied before he put another gooey triangle of toast in his mouth, again smearing his lips with jam.

"Well, that sounds like fun. Make sure you take them some of the berries and a jar of jam for me. Can you remember to do that?" He nodded excitedly at having a 'job' to do.

I listened to the rest of my staff report on the harvest, which was ongoing, and when we could expect to send the wheat off to be prepared. I thanked them all for their continued support when the meeting was completed and rose to head out. I quickly conferred with Beaghy about the gifts for Connor to take with him and said my goodbyes; the last one was for the little boy, a quick ruffling of his hair. I shrunk down the trunk of books for Harry and stowed it in my pocket before going out the front door and Disapparating to the site of the magical brewery.

The new building was beautiful. When it was discovered early last year I was using my supply buying trips to the continent to smuggle information to the French, German and Russian magical governments, the brewery was attacked and destroyed. What the Death Eaters didn't realize was my using the Muggle brewery as the cover, not the magical one. Then again, the existence of the Muggle one was a closely held secret. While it was unfortunate the building was destroyed, it was only a building. My office, the recipe books and all my contacts were located safely away in the place no one, save my two contacts within the Order, knew existed.

I pulled my wand out and tapped on the door, it swung open and I went inside. The lobby was complete, large replicas of the bottle artwork hung around the room, and a huge picture of the eight of us hung behind the information desk.

"My god, we were such babies when we started this," I muttered to myself while I stared at the large version of the photograph which Harry had commented on two days ago. My eyes were drawn to a single pair in the picture, the ones which went back and forth from the camera, to my face, and back again. My gut twisted and I needed to stop tormenting myself by staring and regretting. I glanced away, and focused again on the nearly completed structure.

Off the lobby to the left were the offices– three of them, one for Harry and Ginny, one for the brewmaster – who I had yet to hire - and one for me. Walter and Kate would keep things orderly at the other brewery; I needed to be here to get things off the ground. I was planning to let Harry and Ginny pick out their office furniture today, and place our order for delivery next week.

To the right was something new, a tap room, for people to come and try our line fresh from the tap. It was something American Micro-breweries were doing with great success, and I had decided to include one here. I opened the glass doors to the tap room and realized it wasn't as far along as other parts of the building. I would need to discuss this with the foreman.

I went back into the lobby and through to the brewery floor. Immediately I saw an issue, a bend in the line from the hot water tank to the mash tun. I know I had specifically asked for the line to be kept straight, to prevent excessive condensation. It would need to be corrected to my specifications, even if it meant charming the ceiling to accommodate the necessary space.

I walked through the remainder of the floor, and fortunately found everything else to be done to the specs I had left. I was especially excited to see our new bottling machine. It had twice the capacity as our old one, which would mean the beer would get sealed even faster, leaving it with a fresher taste.

I left the brew floor out the back door and walked on the covered walkway to the slightly smaller rear building. This was the biggest change for both breweries. In the past we'd used a building outside of London to store our grains and then another for the malting and milling processes. With the addition of this building, we would be able to do all of it on site, only then needing to move the grains for the Muggle brews. It will be so much easier with everything together.

After checking everything in the grain house, I locked it back up and returned to the main building. As I left the brew floor and headed back to the lobby I could see Harry and Ginny by the front door. I would need to adjust the charms on the door, allowing for each of their wands to provide entrance, regardless of the time of day. I took a deep breath, pulled the trunk from my pocket and restored it to size and left it sitting near the reception desk.

As I walked closer, I could see they were both wearing company shirts, the Muggle logo prominently displayed. It made me happy to see how they had embraced their involvement. I wasn't sure what their plans were for the fall-it was something I planned to ask them about later today-but their enthusiasm affected me in a way I wasn't prepared for: it made me happy to have continued the company. Harry was able to share in something his parents had loved so.

"Harry, Ginny, I hope you weren't waiting long?" I asked as I opened the door and welcomed them in.

"No, we just got here," Harry said.

I was about to give Harry the trunk with the books when he interrupted my actions, his face scrunched into a puzzled look.

"Please, don't take this wrong, but what is that on your shirt?" I looked down and chuckled.

"That is St. Dolf, the mascot of the magical brews of the MMB," I explained. "Your Mum is the one who drew the original. We've had to tinker with it over the years."

"I don't get it," Harry stated and Ginny began to laugh.

"Seriously, you don't get it?" she asked in disbelief.

"No, it's just weird looking. I mean it's fuzzy, but it's has antlers..." Harry mumbled and Ginny and I laughed even harder.

"Harry, honey, look at it again," Ginny prompted. He just kept shaking his head.

"St. Dolf, even the name gives it away," she further teased. "S, T, D, O, L, F?" Harry shook his head, even faster now. "St, do, lf," she said, emphasizing the sounds of the syllables.

"Harry, it's part stag, part dog -" I started when he finally understanding.

"And part wolf, oh, yeah, now I get it," Harry finished, blushing because he'd missed something so obvious. "But what I don't get, why is it wearing a monk's robe?"

"Ah, well, that's a little joke your Mum and Remus added, for those of us who weren't as knowledgeable about Muggle history. Beer was originally made by Monks, in their monasteries and how they supported themselves," I explained and both of them started to laugh. "We decided to create our own patron saint, one for Magical beer. That's a wand poking out of his pocket there."

"That is the perfect logo," Ginny said with a giggle. I couldn't help but laugh along. It truly was.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Hi, this chapter is named after a hilarious song by Gaelic Storm. Honestly, if you can find it, go and listen, it will enhance the chapter. I know that many are frustrated at the slow pace of how information about Seph is being given out. I swear, you will learn it all, eventually. There are clues in every chapter, however. Thanks to my beta, Arnel, for her help and guidance. If you aren't reading her story, "For the Love of Family", go and do so. It's remarkable and very well done. You can find it on my author page under favorite stories. Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing. Also, if anyone has a favorite style of beer out there, please let me know. MMB will be expanding it's line, and I need ideas. Again, thanks, MNF**

**Chapter 6:**

**"The Dodgy Pint"**

**Harry's POV:**

I felt like a complete idiot. I mean really, I couldn't figure out that thing was part dog, part stag and part wolf! I looked at the design again, and it hit me like Grawp's tree-stump club. I could be a rather thick bloke.

The women stopped laughing finally, and I just rolled my eyes at them.

"Anyway," Seph said, and I was hoping she was changing the subject. "That chest there is full of books, which either were your parents' or contain pictures of them. I have your father's entire life covered there and your mum's from the point when we met. She really did take pictures of everything."

I looked down at the chest and immediately wanted to open it and begin digging through it. I cast my gaze to Seph, hoping I'd be able to, but from the set of her eyes, I knew I couldn't.

"Harry, I know you want to look, and I'm all for it, but there are some work related things which really do need to be dealt with. Let's get through those, and then we can reminisce to your heart's content," she suggested. It was the responsible way to handle things, so I agreed. "Follow me."

She opened a door to the left of the front desk, and we were inside a room which looked like it was intended to be a pub, maybe, when it was finished.

"This will be the company's first tap room," she explained. "A place where folks can come and sample our brews, well, most of them anyway. We have one which we won't be selling here."

"Why not?" Gin asked.

"Uh, it has some rather strong affects when consuming it," Seph replied, blushing.

"Oh, you have to tell us," my girlfriend gushed and Seph nervously giggled in response.

"You remember we made a brew for your parents wedding, the Lover's Libation at the Muggle brewery?" I nodded, thinking it was really nice my parents' friends had gone to the trouble of making something just for their special day. "Well, we also created one for their honeymoon, not like they needed any encouragement," she added, blushing even more wildly. "It's called Love's Lingering Luck, made from a Belgian White base with an aphrodisiac added. It's intended to be consumed in private, with your person of choice."

"I can see why you wouldn't want to serve it here," I commented, imagining what a mess it would be if patrons began getting amorous around each other.

"Yes, Sibéal had the hardest time convincing Sirius it only needed to be a MILD aphrodisiac. Thankfully when your Dad returned to work, after the honeymoon, he was able to tinker with the recipe enough so everyone was happy," she told us with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, we heard Sirius was quite popular with the ladies, no wonder he wanted a beer with seductive powers," Ginny joked, but Seph's face changed.

"Ah, was it perhaps Mr. Lupin who shared with you?" she asked with a hint of glee in her voice and we nodded. "Well, it's not quite accurate. Remus liked to take the mickey out of Sirius and James for the way they attracted young women," she explained, almost sounding as if Remus was jealous or something. This wasn't the Remus I knew.

"Schoolgirls appreciated Sirius's good looks and charm, but, it wasn't like he was bedding them or anything," she correct, "he was just a natural flirt. He made every girl feel beautiful and special. He didn't really go out..." she drifted off and mumbled something that sounded like "being in love", but I couldn't quite tell.

"Anyway," Seph said almost too loud for the empty room, "the tap room will be open mid-afternoon till eleven or so on weekdays, and until two on weekends. I need to find myself a bartender and right soon, since I hope to have it open for Octoberfest this year."

"Let me know if I can help you with that," I suggested. "I know lots of people who are looking for work now."

"I'm sure you do," she answered with a grin. "Come on, I'll show the offices. One of the things I need you to do is select your furniture so it can be ordered. The rest of it is being delivered next week. Chairs for the lobby, things for the brewmaster's office, and the like.

"What about you?" Ginny asked as we left the tap room and Seph lead us across the lobby area, the trunk still sitting there, unopened. I could feel it pulling me toward it, but I resisted. "Are you going to have an office here, or only at the other brewery?"

"I have an office here and have, in fact, been working here more than at MMB 1, as I've taken to referring to it. I ordered my furniture weeks ago," she explained. "We'll meet in my office."

The door to the office suite was on the right, and she pointed out the small front office where the brewmaster would be housed. She also told me she was having issues finding someone qualified for the position, stating they simply needed above average potions ability, the skill to follow recipes and directions and the willingness to learn. It sounded perfect to me. I wondered if I could be taught enough, in the short time we had, to take over the job. It was something I'd need to discuss with her. She also pointed out the private loo across the main hall from the small office.

Our offices were along the back, overlooking Bury Lake, where we drew our water. It was quite serene and very peaceful. Seph's office was much more posh than the one at MMB 1, the sofa in the corner, stationed so you could see out the windows, was covered in a soft brown leather, and there were two matching ottomans. Two wingback chairs in a deep purple completed the small sitting area. Her desk was huge, and it was accompanied by a large black rolling chair. Several bookshelves completed the space. She also had quite a few pictures scattered around. One of Walter and Kate with her at the other plant, one of Teddy Lupin on her lap, several with the rest of the Brewery founders. The one of she and my father caught my eye.

"Are you out with my Dad in this picture?" I asked as I lifted it from off the bookshelf. They looked rather young, and both were wearing dress-robes, holding hands in what appeared to be a staged picture. Dad would say something and Seph would bite her lip and smile.

"Yes, actually, we were in our fourth year, and we had to go to the Pureblood's Cotillion on New Year's Eve," she explained with an eye roll. "It wasn't like your father and I were romantically involved with one another. He was like my third cousin once removed or something and he felt more like my brother than anything else. It was just easier for Sibéal and me to go with your Dad or Sirius; it relieved us from having to accept an invitation from someone less...respecting."

"Oh," I stated and the realized I didn't know what she meant by that. "What do you mean, 'respecting'?"

"There were other boys-some of them were the sons of known Death Eaters-who they tended to think being out with a girl included some extracurricular perks. They'd take what they wanted, regardless of the girl's opinion on the matter. Neither of Marauders would ever treat us in such a way."

"I can't believe it," Ginny said.

"For true pure-bloods, girls and women were - some still are - chattel, objects, things to be used as pawns for power or personal gratification," she sadly explained. "I almost believed the indoctrination. I nearly let myself be used to secure..." she stopped and took in a deep shuttering breath. "Thankfully for Sibéal and me, we'd been friends with the guys since we were in diapers. We alternated who we were escorted by, just to keep it interesting, although we spent most of the night in a group."

"That's horrible," Ginny spoke, her face contorted in disgust.

"Well, the girls weren't much better," she explained as she nodded her head to Ginny's previous statement. "What the boys would take by force, girls would use potions and spells for. There's something despicable about getting your way via either route. Relationships were a minefield for us, which is why we clung to each other until we were forced apart." Persephone reached for the picture and traced the faint smiles on both faces.

"Is your being forced apart because of the arranged marriages?" Seph's face fell, turned ashen and she closed her eyes.

"You were speaking to your parents about me?" Her voice was flat as she inquired.

"We did," I confirmed, "but Mr. Weasley was adamant your story was yours alone to share." She seemed placated by what I said.

"Mum told us a little about your family," Ginny added. "We know she's friends with your sister and her husband. Dora something?"

"Pandora," she very quietly corrected. "Your Mum has probably spoken with my sister more recently than I have. I'm not exactly welcomed at family functions." We stood there quietly, and I wanted to ask her why, have her explain her history, why she was hiding, why she had to live as a Muggle, what legal matter caused her so much trouble. As I opened my mouth, Seph raised her head and her face was sternly set, her eyes blazing.

"I know you both have questions, and I promise I will explain things to you, but I can't, not yet. I need to know things are set between us before I tell you everything. Please, let me tell you my story, but let it be on my terms," she begged and Ginny went and hugged Seph.

"Don't worry about it," Ginny comforted her. "But also know there isn't anything you could tell us which would change our opinion of you."

"I somehow doubt it's true," the older witch muttered as she let my girlfriend go. "Come on, sit down, let me get the furniture ordering scrolls out." Seph sat down behind her desk and opened one of the drawers. Ginny and I took the chairs across from her, looking at the array of pictures. She slid several scrolls over to us, Ginny grabbing them and beginning to look at desks and chairs. I honestly didn't care, as long as it had a good seat, anything would be fine with me. This was definitely something I'd be leaving to the ladies.

"I guess the first thing we need to decide is whether you're going to need one desk or two?" Seph asked.

"Uh, I think one will suffice," Ginny explained. "I won't be here all the time, at least not for the next year. I've made some plans for September on."

Persephone listened, and nodded in understanding. "I think you've made a wise choice," she stated. "Well then Harry, it would seem you need furniture. Have any preferences?"

"Uh, the desk doesn't wobble?" Both of them laughed at me. "Honestly, I can manage with just about anything. Grew up not having much, so I'm grateful for what I have now."

"That is certainly true," Seph stated. "The way your aunt and uncle treated you..." Seph clenched her lips together and I thought I heard her hiss. I felt the blood drain from my face and my mouth felt dry.

"What do you know about my living with the Dursley's?"

She hesitated, looking nervously around the room. "Harry, I know what was said at Order meetings," she explained. Seph turned away from us, looking out the mirror. "Molly and Minerva were incensed at how you were treated. We all heard about it."

"Oh, well, alright then," I mumbled. I really wanted to press her for more, for I was certain this wasn't the whole story. Seph, however, had all but begged us to let her tell us in her own time. I suppose I needed to trust she would. I lifted one of the scrolls, this one had rolling desk chairs on the front page.

"So, Gin, what do you think, blue or green?"

"You should know me better than that," she answered with a sly grin, "I'll always pick green for you, Harry."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I know people were wondering what Ginny's plans were for the fall. You'll find out now, otherwise just some Weasley fun. Enjoy, MNF**

**Chapter 7:**

"**We Can Work it Out"**

**Ginny POV:**

I walked into the subterranean kitchen at Grimmauld Place not long after Harry and I had Apparated to the back yard of the house. I wasn't surprised to find Hermione already there, finishing up icing the cake she'd made for dessert. Our friend had a great skill with the sweets and desired them with an equal passion. She explained sugary treats were forbidden in her home as she grew. Since she could now indulge, she did with enviable gusto.

"Okay, that looks delicious," I remarked as I put my finger into the bowl and came back with a large dollop of icting.

"Raspberry cake with dark chocolate icing and a filling of fresh raspberry compote," she proudly announced. "I also baked a peach pie. Those brothers of yours tend to eat a lot. There's vanilla ice cream in the freezer as well."

"Tell me about it," I agreed as I took another swipe at the frosting bowl. "Growing up with all of them, Mum used to make up my plate before we sat down, just so she knew I'd get enough."

"How many do you think we'll have tonight?" Hermione crossed the kitchen to wash her hands in the large sink.

"Mum, Dad, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and the four of us, so that's nine," I answered.

"You don't think George will be here?" I shook my head.

"I recieved an owl from my Dad this morning. George was going to meet with Angelina Johnson somewhere over in Wales to commiserate. I'm not sure it's all that healthy for Fred's girlfriend and George to be meeting like that, but at least he's getting out of the house, right?" I explained. It wasn't my disliking of Angelina, she was my friend, but I'd seen the way she looked at George, almost like he was an interchangeable replacement for the boyfriend she'd lost. It worried me, although Harry said lots of folks were clinging to people who were close to those they'd lost. I figured it was like that.

"I don't think she's looking to swap George for Fred," Hermione defended her. "She's just hurting, and so is your brother. Shared pain and all that."

"You're probably right," I acquiesced.

"Where's Harry? He was going to do the grilling," Hermione asked, even as she took the large package of steaks out of the ice box. We needed to season the meat and I wanted to get the potatoes sliced and frying in the pan. We'd saved the bacon grease from this morning to use for the potatoes tonight. A large tossed salad would complete the meal.

"He's upstairs," I explained. "He was given a trunk full of old photo albums and books which belonged to his Mum and Dad. He was getting emotional when looking at them at the brewery, so we came home to peruse them here. It'll just be you and me cooking, he can help Ron clean up."

"Wonderful. Well, you'll need to do the salad and the potatoes, since I'll need watch the steaks so they don't burn," she commented as she opened the waxy, brown paper package and began to salt and pepper the meat. Then she suddenly gasped.

"Please tell me you remembered to bring home the beer tonight?" Hermione rapidly asked, going so far as to drop the salt cellar on the table, spilling the grains across the heavy wooden surface. "Oh, poop," she exclaimed in response to her spilling the salt. I couldn't help but laugh at her, and her refusal to use swear words.

"We remembered to bring home the beer," I tried to calm her. "We've got three kinds: the _MMB_, _Stag's Surprise_ which is an ale and some of the new _Moonlit Memories_ which Seph swears I will like, since it's the complete opposite of the MMB. We're covered." I pulled my wand and magically sent the salt back into the container and sealing it closed.

"Thank you," Hermione sighed. While our friend wasn't exactly 'laid-back' she had been far more stressed as of the last few days. All of our lives were settling down, beginning to feel like it had back at Hogwarts in my fifth year, when we were able to study and have fun. Before Dumbledore died and everything was shot to hell. It was nice to be a teen, and think about life ahead of us. When Hermione and I made our wishes regarding the next school year known to the boys, they were surprisingly accepting; Harry more so than Ron, but Ron was just whiney sometimes. I couldn't imagine what would be bothering her.

"Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answered, but I lifted my eyebrow and tilted my head, letting her know I wasn't buying it. "Okay, it's not nothing. My Mum and Dad want me to consider going to University. I tried explaining to them how I don't need a Uni degree for a magical career, but they just weren't listening. I think they want me to become a dentist, join their practice. I've never wanted that. I want to study law, become a barrister or the equivalent wizarding term. I told them, I just can't figure out if they're proud of me or not, and they weren't sure I should be doing what we are next year and..."

I went over and hugged her, effectively silencing her. "We'll help them understand, I've got your back."

"Thanks, Gin."

Dinner went well, Harry came down just before my parents arrived, looking much happier than he had while we were with Seph today. He was regaling us with what he'd found in his father's personal spell book.

"Some of the hexes they'd come up with, they were certainly innovative, even if they didn't seem to serve a purpose. Why exactly would you want to give someone rainbow colored whiskers?" he asked.

"Can you think of a better reason than simply embarrassing someone?" Charlie remarked.

"Yes, I can see that, but it was apparently Dumbledore whose whiskers they changed. Isn't that just asking for detention?" Everyone started laughing, but I could picture it, the Headmaster all rainbow-y and groovy looking.

"Hey, it was the seventies, Harry. You know, hippies and things being groovy and all. Those half-moon glasses were certainly 'cool'," I said through my giggles, which made the rest of us laugh even harder.

"Don't let George get his hands on that. He's liable to come up with fifty new products from that book," Charlie added as we calmed down.

"Hmm," Harry replied. "Not such a bad idea, since I'm his partner!" He took another swig of his bottle of _MMB_ and smiled. I gulped down the rest of my _Moonlit Memories_, enjoying it very much. It was sweet and lacked the astringent flavor of _MMB_, which is what I'd disliked so.

"You two said these were the Muggle brews," Bill inquired. "Have you learned about the magical beers yet?" He was drinking the ale, and said it went perfectly with the steaks. Seph had said it was a good choice, and I'm glad I went with the suggestion. One of the things I desperately wanted her to do was teach me about what pairings would be best for certain foods. I only had a few weeks left, or I'd have to wait until I was home.

"We did," I replied while nodding, "and some of those beers are just crazy!"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked. It was the first time he'd spoken actual words in my presence in a while. He usually just grunted or ate, and then went back to the shop.

"Well, there's one which they won't sell in the tap room because it contains an aphrodisiac," Harry explained. The rest of the family started to laugh.

"Zhat is not somefing we are needing, iz it love?" Fleur asked as she stoked my eldest brother's face. While we'd come to an understanding and I appreciated her, I still didn't need to see her flaunt her relationship with Bill, especially what they did in the bedroom. They obviously must do well in there, since she was pregnant and due next spring. I just didn't want to hear about my brother in bed. That's just gross.

Mum made the strangest sort of strangled noise and when I looked across and down the table at her, she was blushing. "No reason to make something like that," she mumbled.

"Mrs. Weasley, it was made for my parents for their honeymoon," Harry explained. "It's called _Love's Lingering Luck_ and Seph promised that it's only sold to be consumed at home, and they only sell four bottles of it at a time to any one person. It can't be abused that way."

"Perhaps I'll have Harry bring us some home, Mollywobbles," Dad suggested and Mum blushed. The conversation just went from disturbing to downright awful. My head was full of images I just didn't need.

"Well, I suppose," she answered him, still blushing. "Are the others just as scandalous?"

"Er, I would say no, but I'm not sure what you'd think of them, Mum," I answered for Harry, who was up getting himself another _MMB. _I indicated that I'd like another of the _MM_ and Bill and my father motioned to get them another _Padfoot's Pride. _Mum, Hermione and Fleur had all switched over to iced tea a while ago.

"_Purple Pleasure_ is the _MMB _with a potion added so it bubbles and changes color as it warms up. When it reaches the color purple, it's the perfect temp to drink. _Wide Eyed Night_ is a dark mild beer with spells cast upon it so you can see at night. The one I'm looking forward to drinking the most is the _Memories Mélenge_ which is a barley wine with a memory enhancing potion added," I explained while Harry returned with my beer. He'd already charmed the cap off and the mist was rising out of the open orifice.

"There's only four beers?" Charlie asked.

"Nope, two more, but Gin knows they're special to me. My Dad and Sirius came up with them. _Hair of the Dog_ is based on the English porter, and it's charmed so when you drink it you can see and hear better - like a dog." Everyone laughed in amusement, Charlie even muttering something like 'that sounds like Sirius'.

"Yes, but the best part," I interjected, "is if you drink too much of it, you sprout fur!"

"Well, that's certainly an ingenious way to keep folks from over indulging," Dad added.

"The last one is pretty cool too," Harry began. "It's based on the ale we're drinking, but they've added a _Pepper Up_ potion to it, so you feel better while you're imbibing."

"That's the one I'm going to need come September," Ron added grumpily, and Hermione glared while the rest of the family stared at him.

"Ron, dear, what's happening in September?" Mum asked. I looked at Hermione and shrugged.

"Now's as good a time as any," I whispered and she nodded. "Hermione and I made a decision regarding school," I explained. Mum looked happy, Dad looked worried. Ron looked away and Harry smiled proudly. "We've decided we're going to do our seventh year together," I stopped to take a deep breath. "We're not going back to Hogwarts, we're going to Beauxbatons."

"You muzt get togezer withz Gabrielle," Fleur announced. "Zhe will be zo exzited to have you zhere."

"Why aren't you going back to Hogwarts?" Mum asked, a little upset. "Every Prewett and Weasley has a Hogwarts education." Dad covered her hand with his, in an attempt to calm her. Everyone looked somewhat surprised, all except Bill. He knew how hard it was for me to return my second year, after the events in the Chamber. I'd told him what had happened last year with Snape as the Headmaster. He was the only one of my brothers I could tell everything to. Not to mention, he was there at the battle. I could see in his face he understood why we'd chosen as we had.

"Mrs. Weasley, I can speak for both Ginny and me," Hermione started. "We watched too many horrible things happen in the castle. People we knew and cared about were ki..." she trailed off as Mum started to cry. "When we went back for the building rededication, I couldn't walk into the Great Hall and not see Professor Lupin and Tonks lying there. Ginny has it even worse," she continued to explain. "What happened to the students last year, having to curse one another and the other awful things...neither of us could do it. Luna is coming with us, as is Neville. Madame Maxime was wonderful in welcoming us."

"But it's so far away. I was having a hard enough time with you here in London," Mum explained. "France is even farther." I stood up and walked to my mother's side and knelt down.

"Mum, I can leave on weekends. I'm of age, remember. I'll be traveling back to see Harry and how things are going at the brewery. I promise, we'll all come visit so much you'll be sick of us. Please, understand why I need to do this," I begged. Mum nodded at me.

"At least you'll all be together," she whispered, even as Dad put a firm arm around her.

"Sounds like we'll be taking several trips to France," Dad announced. "Fleur, do you think your parents would mind having their in-laws visit?" Fleur smiled at him.

"Not at all," she answered. "Zhey would love to have company."

I looked at Harry and smiled. It truly did feel like we'd turned a page and were moving forward with our lives.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Yes, there really is an Irish drinking song called "Beer, Beer, Beer". Lots of fun and fluff, especially for my Harry/Ginny shipper friends. Thanks to everyone who is reading. I'm touched by your reviews. MNF**

**Chapter 8:**

**Beer, Beer, Beer**

**August 29, 1998**

**Ginny POV:**

"Hey, you look worried about something," I said to Harry as we were finishing up breakfast before heading over to the magical brewery this morning. I grabbed his hand across the table and gave it a squeeze. "Want to share?"

"You know I stayed up last night, most of the night, looking at that stuff Seph gave me?" he asked and I cocked one side of my lip up and nodded at him.

"Yes, since the bed was rather chilly without you. I don't care if it's summer, this house is damned drafty."

"Sorry, sweetie," he apologized, "if I stay up that late again, I'll make sure to put a warming charm on the bed."

"That would be lovely," I answered, "Now, what has you all contemplative this morning?"

"Two of the books I found in the trunk belonged to my Mum and Dad," he explained and I furrowed my brow, not quite understanding.

"I thought that everything in the trunk belonged to them?'

"It does, but these were different. There were **their** books, ones they'd written. Mum's personal potions book is in there. It's every potion she created, starting with some projects at school up to her working for St. Mungo's. She made special potions for sick people or folks who'd done their magic wrong and needed to reverse the consequences," he explained.

"That's really cool, Harry. Your Mum was helping people and she wrote it all down. What a great gift."

"Yeah, some of the potions are really complex. She took part of one potion and combined it with part of another. I don't know how she didn't blow things up with her experimentations," he sighed. "Even with Slughorn's help, I couldn't have managed it." We both chuckled at that. Harry was good at potions, better than good really; but a potions prodigy he was not.

"My Dad had a bunch of journals in there from his work. Like three or four of them, all full of discoveries and theories and explanations. It's really interesting reading. There's stuff the Marauders did at school, although most of that is really stupid. The intriguing work is from when he was on the job."

"What did your Dad do?" I hadn't remembered ever hearing of a career for Mr. Potter.

"He was an Unspeakable. He worked in the Department of Mysteries. You remember that brain thing that sucked on Ron?" I nodded that I did. The battle there was one of my worst nightmares. "My Dad is the guy who worked with it."

"Wow!" I was impressed. Everything down in that area scared me. I didn't ever want to go back there.

"It's amazing to read all about what they did, and how smart they were. My parents did important things. I wonder if they'd be happy with the choice I'm making?" I suddenly understood. Many people wondered about the choice Harry was making. Kingsley, Mum and Dad, even Professors McGonagall and Flitwick questioned why Harry wasn't going to school with me, or doing an internship at the Ministry, so he'd be prepared when the Auror Academy opened next year. That had been his dream, but he wasn't sure it was anymore. He'd done enough battling of dark wizards for one lifetime. I understood his choice, but many thought he should be out there, helping rebuild the Wizarding world.

"Harry, I think your parents would have supported this decision," I offered. "They were both part of the brewery when it started, and I think they'd be thrilled you're part of their legacy. I also think they'd realize after all you've been through, you might want to just be a normal bloke for a while. Your Mum and Dad loved you so much, and they would have stood by you while you took some time for yourself." Harry stood up and walked around the table and offered me a hand to help me stand. He then wrapped his arms around me and kissed me tenderly.

"You are the best thing in my life, Gin. Thank you for understanding me," he whispered in my ear while he continued to hold me.

"Always, Harry," I promised.

"Harry, are you sure?" Seph asked. "It's a lot to learn in a rather short amount of time." She looked at him a bit sceptically. I knew, however, that if Harry put his mind to something, he'd succeed.

"Seph, I'm sure. I want to be hands on. I want to really be involved in this place. Being the brewmaster would be the best way to do it. I know I can learn," he pleaded. Seph stood up from the stool she was sitting on and paced back and forth across the tap room.

"You're going to need to start following Walter, every day, all day. We need to get this place on line by Mid-September if we're going to have our full compliment available for Oktoberfest. Thankfully, three of the beers are based off things we brew MMB 1. We won't need the _LLL_, so we've only have to brew two here. If you do this, it's going to be ten to twelve or more hour days until we're up and running. Are you sure this is what you want?"

I knew she was attempting to discourage him, but I could see in Harry's eyes it wasn't working. This was something he very much wanted. I thought it was a good idea as well, since it would fill up his time and he wouldn't miss me as much. He'd considered coming with me, but in the end, he just couldn't imagine sitting for another year of schooling.

"What else would I be doing?" he asked with a bemused face. "I could stroll through the Ministry and let them take pictures of me and make it seem like I was 'on board' with the rebuilding. No thanks. Kingsley is doing a good job, and I do support him, but I'm not going to be a poster boy for anything." The hardness of his tone, and the slight sneer on his face were evidence of how deeply the wounds of his reputation being smeared by the Ministry truly were. Seph studied him for a minute before deciding not to go forward with this line of questioning.

"I understand you take after your father on a broom," Seph said and Harry nodded his head without making eye contact. "You don't want a pro Quidditch career?"

"Maybe someday, but not yet. Again, I'd be photographed and hounded. I'd much rather have a quiet life for a while."

"Well, let me ask you a few questions then. I know you didn't sit your NEWT's, but what did you get on your OWL for Potions?" Seph inquired.

"I got an 'E'. I probably would have done better if I'd had Professor Slughorn for all my years. I made assumptions about Professor Snape and he made assumptions about me and we really didn't get along. It affected my ability to learn in that class." Harry conceded.

"Yes, well, I remember Severus from school. He was difficult even then. My sister, Petronella was in Slytherin house and the stories she told me about him were sad, yet, disturbing. By the time we left school, there was an all out hatred between your dad, Sirius and Severus," she explained.

"I know," Harry replied, "I've seen quite a few of his memories. I don't suppose his devotion to my mum helped matters."

"No, it didn't. No bloke wants another having amorous thoughts about his fiancée," she added sadly. "Okay, you've provided the potions qualifications. You're obviously smart and think well on your feet given what you did with Voldemort. Harry, I'm willing to give this a go, but in three months we're going to sit down and re-evaluate the situation. If it isn't working, we'll move in a different direction then. Is that alright with you?"

"Sure, thanks so much, Seph," Harry excitedly answered while he shook her hand. He then hugged me tightly.

"Well, then, we need to get to work," Seph said. "Come over behind the bar. I'm going to teach both of you how to pour the perfect pint." We followed her around to the back of the bar. "I had Walter come over and set up some of the Muggle brews here, just for practice. These are correctly tapped, and I've gotten the air out of the lines already. I'll teach you both how to do that another day. I didn't want to waste time with it today.

"Okay, we've got the _MMB, Moonlit Memories, Padfoot's Pride, Stag's Surprise, _and the last of the Summer Golden Wheat IPA, _Lightening Lily," _she explained as she pointed to each of the colourful taps. "I've also got bottles of the _Lover's Libation, _which is the only way we sell it and a few bottles of _Memories Mélange_ which I did a quick run of at MMB 1 a few weeks ago, to tinker with the recipe," she explained and pointed at a glass fronted refrigerator on the far wall, still behind the bar.

"Harry, there are several kinds of glasses up on the shelf there. I want you to select a glass, select a beer and pour," she directed.

He selected a tall, trumpet shaped glass from the shelf and put it under the tap for _Lightening Lily_ and pulled the lever. The glass was quickly filled up, but it was mostly foam which then bubbled over the top and down the sides. Seph's face showed nothing, but I somehow doubted Harry had done it correctly.

"Okay, Ginny your turn," Seph said, not commenting on what Harry had done right or wrong. I looked at the glasses and chose a large mug with a sturdy handle. I put it under the lever for _Moonlit Memories_, and began to pour. Unlike Harry, however, I started and stopped often, letting the foam settle before adding more. I set it down on the bar just like Harry had done.

"Not bad, either of you, but not quite right either. Harry, the glass you chose is a Pilsner glass, and we only have one beer which is served in such a glass. It's the fall seasonal, _Eliza's Enlightenment, _since it's a lager. The glass is tall and tapered so you get long chains of bubbles as well as a good head. A good-sized head is about one to one and a half inches. How big do you think yours is?"

Harry looked at it and sighed, "About three?"

"I agree. I'll show you how to fix that in a minute. Ginny, you chose well with your glass, just about all of our beers can be poured into a mug or stein, however, _Moonlit Memories_ is generally served in a pint glass. We carry Imperial Pints, which just means they hold twenty ounces. See how it swells a little there at the top, it's good for catching the foam. Your pouring technique was interesting, you knew there was too much head on Harry's, didn't you?"

"I wasn't sure, but I didn't think people would want to pay for a drink, and then have most of it be foam." Harry gently nudged me with his elbow into my stomach. "What?"

"Don't make me look bad."

"We're learning, silly, we can make mistakes now," I replied and Seph laughed.

"You're right, Ginny. Patrons would not be happy if most of their pint was foam. The starting and stopping will reduce that, but it increases the likelihood of having line issues from air backing up into it. Then you get way too much foam and the line needs to be cleared out. While you both did okay, here's the correct way to pour." She took down a pint glass and then took the dishcloth she had attached to her apron and wiped along the edge.

"You always want to check the glass and make sure it's clean. This cloth here, I only use to wipe the clean glasses before I pour. If a glass ever looks dirty or spotted or whatever, just put it back in the cleaning rack and we'll wash it again," she explained. "The rag to clean the counter is under here, in the red dishpan. If we have a large spill or something, just use your wand to clean it up. There are other cloths if someone spills on themselves or something like that. Magic sometimes only does so much." We both nodded watching how she cleaned the lip of the glass, as well as the outside.

"Next, you want to hold the glass at a forty-five degree angle to whatever the beer is coming out of, regardless of it being a tap or a bottle. For beginners pour slowly; as you get better, you can speed it up so you create an even better head, but for right now, just go at it easy. The taps can go slow or fast, depending on how far forward you pull on the lever. You want to aim for going right down the middle of the side of the glass, like this," she said as she began to let the _Padfoot's Pride_ slide down the glass.

"When it's about half full, tip the glass upright," which she demonstrated, "when you're nearing the top, stop. That way you leave enough for foam rise without it going over the sides." She then took a long pull on her glass. "Love my job, beer all day, every day. As the old drinking song goes, '_God bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer, beer, beer,'_" she sang and we laughed while taking a drink of our own fine beverages.

Seph went over the glasses with us again, explaining which beers didn't go in mugs or pint glasses. I was surprised there were a few which needed to be served in a brandy snifter, but she explained they were closer to wine than beers, so they were served in that style of glass. It had something to do with aromatics or the smell or whatever it was.

We poured several drinks from the bottles, and I found I really liked the _Lover's Libation_, especially after Seph put a slight warming charm on it, making the honey and spices come out even more. "The heat brings out the flavours in it. Think of it more like a mulled wine rather than a beer."

Thankfully, Seph had foods for us to eat, or we would have all been rather drunk. She pulled out some tiny glasses, only holding a few ounces each. They had a bulge similar to the pint glasses and then opened a large box, which in turn held some Muggle plastic containers of food.

"Okay, these are tasting glasses," she explained about the small drinking glasses. "We will do beer and food tastings and sell something called a flight, which is four of these glasses, allowing patrons to sample several beers. Today I'm going to explain pairings with you, so that hopefully one day we can open a kitchen here and serve food as well."

"That's really cool," I said excitedly. "This is something I really wanted to learn."

She explained there weren't hard and fast rules, but instead suggestions and her personal preferences. Much of what she was teaching us, she'd learned from going to gastropubs around London and Edinburgh as well as when she toured a series of microbreweries in the United States with Sirius shortly after he was freed from Azkaban but before Voldemort was restored.

She pulled out a long container which when opened revealed fish and chips, properly wrapped in newsprint and a warming charm on it to keep it the perfect temperature. "What beer would you choose?" We both shook our heads, not knowing what would work.

"Okay, for something greasy or vinegary, you want to choose an Ordinary Bitter. For us that's our _MMB_," she explained as she poured, handed us the glasses and then magically divided the fish and chips and put some on the plates in front of each of us. "The biting taste and strong flavours of a bitter or even and IPA balance the flavours of the fish and chips well. We haven't brewed an IPA or India Pale Ale in years, but I'm thinking of bringing it back next year. We'll deal with new brews after we get MMB 2 up and running smoothly."

We ate the food and drank the beer, and I could see what she was saying. The vinegar on the chips made the _MMB_ more pleasurable for me as well, since it really wasn't my favourite. The astringent nature of the beer was lost in the other flavours. Next Seph pulled out small containers of lamb stew.

"Now what do you think?" Neither Harry nor I spoke. "Remember, your pairing the beer, so something as heavy and gamey as lamb needs a beer that's heavy and strong," she explained.

"_Stag's Surprise_?" I ventured a guess.

"Not quite, but you're thinking along the correct lines." She poured the _Padfoot's Pride_ and I could see how the strong porter worked with the lamb. Over and over Seph took containers out and then poured a beer for us. Smoked salmon for the heavy Scottish Ale of _Stag's Surprise. _Pizza to go with the _Lightening Lily_, which was amazing together. The pizza was perfectly complimented by the crispness of the beer.

To my delight, several of the beers went with dessert items. The _Memories Mélange_ was paired with grilled peaches and cream. Cheesecake, chocolate no less, was brought out for my favourite beer, _Moonlit Memories._ The most decadent, however, were the chocolate covered strawberries she had for the _Lover's Libation._ I was very buzzed, if not drunk by the time Harry began feeding me the strawberries. I thought that he might be as well. Seph sniggered at the two of us before she pulled a phial out from behind the bar, uncapped it and drank it down.

"What's that?" I asked her.

"_Silverman's Sober-Up Potion,"_ Seph explained. "I need to go and do payroll at MMB 1. You two are done for the day, go get ready for France, Ginny. Are you kids okay to get yourself home, or do you need me to make you a Portkey?"

"I can get us home," Harry said. "Do you mind if I take the rest of these berries and a couple bottles of the _LL_ with us?" Seph laughed.

"Not at all, enjoy yourselves. Ginny, good luck in school, please write to me. Harry, eight o'clock on Wednesday at MMB 1 to start following Walter."

"Sure, Seph," Harry answered.

"Thanks, Seph," I called to her, even as she was walking out of the tap room. A flick of her wand and the dishes were clean and put away and the garbage was gone. All that remained on the counter was the four bottles of beer and a large bowl of the berries.

"Come on, Gin, I've got plans for you and these," he said as he grabbed our snack.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Hi, thanks to Arnel for her fast turn around, or you wouldn't be getting this chapter today. The song is one by Alanis Morrisette. I hope you enjoy, this chapter is all fluff and love and for my two H/G nuts: HGRH35 and MyGinevra. There is a very important bit of info in this chapter, however. Can you find it? Thanks for reading, MNF**

**Chapter 9:**

**Everything**

**Sunday, August 30, 1998**

**Avignon, France**

**Hôtel Cloitre St. Louis**

**Ginny POV:**

"I don't want to get up," I groaned, pulling the blankets up over my head. Harry's hand sneaked around my waist, his large hand covering my hip.

"Gin, sweetie, you've have to get up and return to your room and send Ron back down here before your parents get up. Your Mum already announced we're not missing breakfast this morning," Harry told me, yanking the luxurious sheets down.

"What does it matter? Mum and Dad know I've been living at Grimmauld Place for the last three weeks," I postulated. "They can't honestly be THAT dense. They've got to know we share a bed, as do Ron and Hermione." I was whining, not all that attractive, but I didn't want to get up.

"Ginny, honey, there's knowing and then there's KNOWING. If it makes your Mum feel better to believe that you and Hermione share a bedroom, even though there's only one bed in the room, then I say we let her continue to believe that," Harry explained. I knew he was right, Mum really wasn't ready to think about Ron or me in a serious relationship.

"Fine," I groused, kicking the blankets off my calves and then banging my feet against the mattress. "Just remember you kicked me out of your bed when you're missing me." He quickly pulled me to him.

"I am not kicking you out of my bed," Harry corrected, his eyes suddenly much darker. "I am allowing your Mum her delusion."

I sighed loudly as I stood up and grabbed my dressing gown from off the desk. "Ron had better be wearing clothes this time. I really didn't need to know my brother had freckles on his arse." Harry groaned at my comment.

"I successfully shared a room with him for seven years and never learned that little bit of information," he complained. "You really didn't need to share."

"Hey, if I have to see him in his birthday suit, you're going to hear about it," I teased before leaning over and kissing him goodbye. I cinched the dressing gown shut, picked up my wand and then Disapparated to the room next door. I had kept my eyes closed when I arrived and then took a deep breath and hesitantly opened my left eye. "Oh, thank Merlin." Ron was wearing his boxers.

I walked over to the bed, hit Ron, who complained loudly but without saying an actual word. "Go back to the room with Harry," I told him, whipping the blankets off and pulling him by the arm out of the bed. He tumbled onto the floor. Ron grunted at me before grabbing his wand and Disapparating to the other room. I slid into the warm bed, taking my brother's spot, and closed my eyes. There was no way I wasn't getting as much sleep as Mum would let me.

Mum was true to her word, and at half-seven she charmed little notes in the shape of birds to fly in through the open windows and wake us up. I tried to ignore them, but they began nesting in my hair. I'd fallen asleep with my wand in my hand, so I shot them down and let them burn. The shower was already on, so I knew Hermione was awake.

An hour later we sat down for our morning meal. Hermione and I had a difficult keeping a straight face as we watched the hostess flirt with Harry and Ron, both of whom were wildly embarrassed. She'd done the same thing with Dad last night, so I wasn't at all jealous. I trusted Harry and his feelings for me.

Mum had discovered she greatly enjoyed both French pastries and tea. Once she was on her second cup of the sweet, vanilla-tinged tea and her third croissant with jam, we suggested she might want to stop. Harry and Ron had both sniggered at the rather delicate meal, complaining they were missing their bangers and blood pudding. They'd demolished several baguettes already, claiming it filled them better. I could say with utter confidence I would not miss my brother's complaining.

We toured through Avignon during the morning, taking in the old buildings framed by fragrant trees and climbing vines. I bought a pair of tortoise shell sunglasses, secretly hoping I'd need them more often while at school this year than I would if we were staying in London or returning to Hogwarts. After lunch Mum and Dad took Hermione and me to meet with Fleur's parents and sister Gabrielle to do our school shopping. There were two large shopping districts for Wizards in France; one in Paris and the other here in Avignon.

You can only enter by Portkey, which Monsieur Delacour created for us. Much like Diagon Alley, the shopping district was bustling and filled with students and their parents. Gabrielle was quite helpful in translating for us, having committed to learning English when her sister married my brother. The first stop was at "Communications Magiques" which I could even translate.

Madame Delacour explained there were broaches available which were charmed to immediately translate the French being spoken around us into English for us to hear. It would, in turn, exchange our English words for French for the native speakers. I thought it was wonderful, and now understood why Madame Maxime had said our inability to converse in French would not be an impediment to our educations. I selected one which looked like a Lion atop a bed of leaves. I may not be a Gryffindor this year, but my heart would always remain with my former house. Hermione chose one of a butterfly with iridescent wings.

We next went to purchase our robes in Aigulles Traversees or Crossed Needles as my broach translated. The uniforms for Beauxbatons were made of a much softer and lighter fabric than those at Hogwarts. The pale blue silk seemed to float around me. The cut was also so much more flattering than the Hogwarts robe with it's boxy style of falling from the shoulders and the voluminous sleeves.

These new robes were cinched at the waist along the back, accentuating my waist and hips. They fell mid-calf and flared out when I spun in them. Under the robes, the uniform was a dark blue, knee-length pinafore dress which was worn with a white blouse, long sleeves for winter, short for fall and spring. We were required to wear stockings with the dress, but we could choose white, the pale blue or a near skin-colored taupe color. No heavy cotton or scratchy synthetic fabrics; these were made of silk and felt so soft. I chose a pair of each color to begin with. The most wonderful part, however, were the shoes. No longer required to wear either Oxford lace-up shoes nor the juvenile strapped shoes; here we wore a more flattering low heel in the neutral taupe color or we could wear knee-high black boots for inclement weather.

"Hermione, I don't know about you, but I feel much more like a girl in these clothes," I spoke loud enough for her to hear while in the changing room next to mine.

"Definitely," she replied. "I look like I have a butt in this dress," she giggled, "and the fabric is so much nicer. I could sleep in these robes."

"I still think I prefer Harry's old Quidditch jersey," I told her and we both laughed. We each gathered what we needed. I had been keeping a rough tally in my head, and this wasn't going to be an inexpensive shopping trip. We hadn't even gone for our texts or supplies yet and I wanted an owl to write to Harry. I was concerned there wouldn't be enough gold to cover it all.

I was used to the beauty of the Delacour family. Even at a mere twelve years old, Gabrielle was stunning. The clerk at the store, however, made me feel inadequate. Her black hair fell in perfect ringlets down her back from the intricate twist which was on the back of her head. A silver clip held the hair away from her lavender eyes. Her heart-shaped mouth was moving as I laid my items down before her, and I was surprised when I heard my name from her mouth.

"Are you Miss Weasley or Miss Granger?" she asked, her voice perfectly translated even though the words didn't match the movements of her mouth.

"Miss Weasley," I hesitantly responded. "Why do you ask?"

'Your bill has already been paid," she explained.

"What do you mean? Who paid the bill?"

"It says here to purchase what you need and a Mr. Potter will have the gold immediately transferred from Gringotts to the shop." I smiled at the clerk, and blushed a little. I knew it would be futile to argue with her, Harry had done what he wanted. While I was a little uncomfortable with the generosity, I had come to understand that Harry wanted to share what he had with me, not out of charity, but because he loved me.

I thanked the clerk and quietly explained the situation to Dad. I know Harry wouldn't have ever done something to make my father uncomfortable, and Dad worked hard to hide his reaction, but I could read it in my father's eyes. I wished there was some way to assure him I would always be his little girl, even if my dreams came true and I someday became Harry's wife.

We completed the shopping and returned to the hotel rooms. I quickly stowed my purchases in my recently redecorated trunk – gone was the Hogwarts logo, replaced by a picture of a unicorn – before nearly skipping over to the guys' room next door. Hermione was with me, and she knocked gently. A yell from within let us know the door was unlocked and we should come in.

I ran to Harry, who was sprawled out on the bed with a book between his hands, his head propped up on several pillows. I leaped onto the bed and landed on top of Harry. Taking his face between my hands, I kissed him hard and passionately.

"Oy, do you hafta do that in front of people," Ron complained a moment later.

"Ron, believe me, that's nothing," Hermione remarked. "Anyway, she's thanking him. What he did today was very generous. Thank you." A look passed between Harry and Hermione, something special and intimate. At one point I was jealous of the time he spent with her, and how easy things were between them. I thought she was my rival. Instead, she was my biggest supporter. The relationship they shared was similar to mine with Bill. He was the brother I could tell anything to, share my secrets and wishes and I knew he'd always keep them private. With all they'd endured together, Hermione was the one person who'd never left Harry, the one person he could fully trust, even with his life. They had moved beyond friendship, they were siblings in every way which mattered.

"It's nothing, Hermione, only gold. I want the two of you to have a wonderful year. I want it to be everything the last few years at Hogwarts weren't," he explained. Not only had he left instructions with the clothier, he had similar arrangements with the bookseller, the stationer, the apothecary and potioners and the pet store. We paid for nothing but our sweets, and I suspect it was because we gave our candies and our gold to Dad to buy.

"Well, thank you, sweetheart," I told him, sealing it with another kiss. "I'll model my new uniform for you later. So much more flattering than the black robes we've been wearing. Hermione even said hers makes her butt look better!" A throw pillow came flying at us from the far side of the room.

"You weren't supposed to share that!" she screamed, blushing wildly enough to be a Weasley.

"Will you model yours for me later, too?" Ron asked expectantly and Hermione's blush deepened, even as Harry and I began to laugh.

I shifted around so I was lying next to Harry, my head on his chest. "Whatcha reading?"

"It's the first of the journals about my Dad's work at the Ministry. He was an Unspeakable, but I told you that, didn't I?" he asked and I nodded against him. "Anyway, he started off in the Brain Room -"

"Did he have a death wish?" Ron muttered. "Gotta be bloody crazy to willing work with that thing."

"No death wish, Ron, but he did tame the brain," Harry went on and Ron scoffed at the idea of the brain being tame. "He left the brain room after only being there for about eight months. He then spent a short period in the Time room, something about a mishap with some wizard creating a time loop and continually going back in time to change things and creating large and large issues each time he did."

"Time can be very tricky," Hermione stated. "After my third year, when I had the Time-Turner, I knew not to mess with its linear progression." Harry and I both nodded, Ron looked at her puzzled. She kissed him to quell the inevitable question he'd ask her.

"So, basically, a year after he started there, he moved again. This time he went to work in the Death Chamber, and worked there until he and Mum were killed," he explained sadly.

"The room where Sirius died?" Ron asked and Harry nodded.

"It's really interesting stuff," he told me quietly. "I wonder if Dad could have saved him?"

There weren't going to be words to soothe the pain my love was in. Hermione and Ron slipped from the room and I wrapped my arms around him and began kissing him again. I didn't want him sad today, not when we only had two days left together.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: The chapter title is taken from the Matchbox Twenty song. I am putting a tissue warning on this chapter, per the directions of my wonderful beta, Arnel. She apparently got choked up several times. I loved hearing everyone's theories on what was important in the last chapter. Without giving too much away, only one of you was right. I know several of you have been with me for years, and are aware of my medical situation. While the cancer has not returned, I have been given a very serious new diagnosis. While I am hopeful it will not affect my ability to write, I will be undergoing several more tests and will be entering the hospital sometime in the next month. If I will not be able to maintain the Monday & Thursday posting schedule, I will make you aware. Thanks to all of you who have been thinking and praying for me. I truly believe it's helped. Enough about me, on with the chapter. MNF**

**Chapter 10:**

**Hand Me Down**

**Wednesday, September 2, 1998**

**Harry POV:**

After watching Ginny climb aboard the pale blue- grey flying coach yesterday morning, and then watching it disappear into the cloudless sky, I felt empty. Before she'd left I'd given her a compact mirror inside an abalone shell which was charmed to communicate with the square one in my pocket. I knew my Dad and Sirius had had a set, so they could talk when they were in different detentions, but my half had been destroyed in my anger. The spell was in one of my father's first journals and I knew I would need a way to speak with my girl while she was away. To proactively prevent his whining, I'd made Ron and Hermione a set as well, although mine was charmed to speak with Hermione's as well. I wasn't going to tell Ron, but I did need to talk with her, too. There were things I'd only speak about with Hermione.

I hadn't slept well when I arrived back to London that night. Ron was here, but he was moping and whining and I suggested he might be happier back at the Burrow, which didn't endear me to him. He went to bed surly and unpleasant. I cracked open a bottle of _Stag's Surprise_ and read into the early morning hours. I finally settle down just after three. My seven o'clock alarm was quite unwelcome.

I Apparated to the alley behind MMB 1 at a quarter to eight and was pleasantly surprised to find Kate, Walter and Seph already there, waiting for me. A sign was hanging up over the company logo stating "Welcome New Brewmaster Trainee, Harry!" and when I approached the desk, Kate came out from behind it, hugged me and helped me into a white robe like the ones Gin and I had worn on the tour. My name was stitched onto the breast pocket with the title "Brewmaster" beneath.

"You ready to start your education, Harry?" Walter asked.

"I am, sir. I've read over the brew manuals Seph left with me." I said, my enthusiasm at my new career bubbling to the surface.

"Excellent, come this way then young man, and we'll get started," he stated before he turned and went toward the dressing room before the brew room.

"Have a good day, Harry," Kate said with another hug. "I'll see you at lunchtime. I baked some biscuits for you." She reminded me so much of Mrs. Weasley and her on-going campaign to get me to gain weight. She'd be happy to know she had an ally.

"That sounds great. Thanks, Kate," I told her, which earned me another squeeze. Seph reached for my hand.

"There's a lot to learn, but you're a bright boy, don't let yourself get overwhelmed by it all. Ask Walter your questions, he will always answer you truthfully and concisely. We'd rather have a million questions now than an error later. When you're done, come find me. I have a few more photo albums I found in Eliza's things this weekend. She won't know I took them, but I think you'll enjoy seeing what's inside," she told me. There was a sadness in her eyes when she spoke about Eliza which hurt me to see. If I stopped and considered it, I was unable to fathom how hard it must be for Seph to get up everyday and live her life, knowing everyone she loved was gone. Even with everything and everyone I'd lost, I still had Ginny and her family and Hermione. Maybe we could adopt Seph?

"Sounds good, I'll see you later?" I asked.

"I'm spending the day here, interviewing some folks for the floor for this plant. Several of the folks working here are privy to the enhancements to the brews at MMB 2 due to family circumstances," she said quietly and it took me a moment to understand she meant they were from magical families. "They relocated here after the explosion at the plant. I need them to go back, which means I need to hire here. I'd be interested in any names you have of people who'd be looking for a job at MMB 2, either on the floor or in the tap room."

"I make a list today and leave it for you," I promised. There were a few friends who I definitely knew were looking for work and who'd be great at this.

"Excellent, well, have a good morning, see you at noon," she said before she walked across the lobby to the office suite and I followed Walter. We donned our caps and booties before walking into the brew room.

"Before I start you on the process of brewing beer, I need you to understand the ingredients of beer," Walter told me. "Come out back here," he directed, leading me to a door I'd missed when we toured last week. It was off the back wall, and when he opened it we were inside a small warehouse. There were items set out on a long table, along with two chairs.

"Sit," he directed and I did as I was told. "I just wanted to tell you, before we started today, how special both your Mum and Dad were to me. I was there the day your Dad was born, and your grandfather just about climbed on the roof and crowed with happiness. He and Rosalyn had tried to have a baby for so many years, they'd just about given up on ever having a child of their own when your dad came along. Arthur made sure your dad knew everything: how to ride a horse, how to farm, how to read and do math, how to track with stars at night. Your dad was bright and picked up anything someone was willing to teach him. When he brought your Mum home the first time, well, we all knew she was the one. They were good people, Harry. I can see in you so much of them. Be proud to be James and Lily Potter's boy," he told me.

"I am, sir, I am."

"Good, alright then, to work," he commanded and I nodded.

"Okay, beer is made by steeping grains, adding yeast to ferment the grain drink and then flavored when fermentation is complete and the yeast is dead. Whatever grains are used - and it's not only malted barley, mind ya - that list is called the grain bill. What I want you to do is learn about all the grains we use here, get familiar with their smells, their tastes when they're both dry and wet, cold and hot; because that's what will provide the distinctive flavors our finished beer has," he explained.

I spent my morning with my nose in small cans of grains, some of them surprising: wormwood, berries, dried heather flowers as well as more conventional grains like wheat, rice, oats, and rye. Then we started in on the barley, all seven different varieties which were used in different beers here. Right away I could taste sweetness in some while others were far more bitter.

"How am I ever going to keep all these straight?" I asked, bewildered.

"It gets easier with time," Walter promised. "Your nose will immediately know what flavors will be produced based on the smell of them. Let me ask you, do you know when your Ginny walks into a room, even if your back is turned?" I smiled and nodded. "And why is that?"

"Because I recognize the perfume which is simply her. She smells like fresh mown grass, and Quaffle leather and lilacs in spring," I explained.

"There you have it, you know it's her. Eventually, you'll know which grains you have, even with your eyes closed. You'll also be able to tell if they're good or not with one whiff," he promised, and I wanted to believe, but I was overwhelmed at this point. We broke for lunch, and went to sample Kate's cookies along with some beef stew Seph had made.

The afternoon was all about how the different grains we had studied in the morning smelled, tasted and reacted when either heated or cooled, wet or dry, roasted or not. By the time four o'clock rolled around, my head felt like it was one of the slurries I had been studying. Walter said I had done well, but I simply felt exhausted. I bid him goodbye in the changing room, removing my hat, booties and lab coat - something Walter taught me the name of - and moved to the offices.

Seph was seated on the sofa in her office, studying a picture. She looked as though she'd been crying. As I approached, I recognize Sirius holding Seph as they danced in the Great Hall. They were both in formal robes, and the look on his face I recognized. I'd seen it in Mr. Weasley's face, Bill's face, Ron's face and I was sure this was how I looked at Ginny. It surprised me. I cleared my throat not to startle her. Seph shifted her head and quickly swatted the tears away from her cheeks and eyelashes.

"When was it taken?" I asked, referring to the picture.

"The Spring Student Ball our fifth year," she answered. "He'd pestered me for weeks to attend with him. I finally gave in out of desperation; everyone else was paired up at the time."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I moved to sit in the overstuffed chair across from her.

"Your Mum had agreed to go with your Dad. They were so smitten with each other, but she made him earn her love," she explained with a crooked smile and far-away look in her eyes. "Sibéal and Remus were going out with each other, casually, for the whole year. It was a miracle she ever made him relaxed enough to do it, but she did. Eliza and Peter had been a couple for well over a year by then. It left Sirius and me as the odd ones out. Since I didn't want to lead anyone else on, I finally relented and went with him."

"What do you mean, 'lead someone on'? Was it like with the Pureblood dance thing?"

Seph sighed. "In a way," she started. "There were boys who were interested in me, but because my marriage was to be set, I never paid any of them any attention. It wouldn't be fair. I couldn't let someone fall in love with me, or worse have me fall in love with them. To live your life married to one person, your heart with another, it seemed a horrific existence to me. I never expected I would ..." Her voice broke as she trailed off. I felt horrible for her, so I changed the subject.

"So you and Dad were friends when you were little, right?" She nodded her answer. "Tell me something about him when you were kids." Her face brightened as she remembered, pushing the tears aside.

"Your Dad wanted a sister or a brother in the worst way, but it just wasn't going to be. We all tried to convince him it wasn't so great, but James wanted another Potter child to play with, to take care of, you know?" I nodded. I loved what the Weasley's had and wished it was mine, too. "I was the youngest of seven girls and to be honest, I was forgotten a lot growing up. I was the apple of my father's eye, but he wasn't home much, his career often took him away on long trips. I think my sisters saw me as a nuisance," she confided.

"One day, we must have been six or seven, we were at your Dad's house. I don't know why we were there, but we all were: the Potter's, the Black's, the Cinnéidigh's, the Longbottom's, the Malfoy's, the Prewett's, the Bones's, my whole family and just well, everyone. I spoke with a lisp when I was small, and some of the kids liked to tease me about it. Sirius's cousin, Bella, she was merciless in her teasing. She was a vile little girl. How anyone was surprised she grew up to be what she was is beyond me." I could imagine Bella as a child, and suspected she made Draco seem as harmless as Neville.

"I wanted to play princess, except I didn't say it that way. I said pwincwess. Everyone started laughing at me, and I ran off. I didn't want anyone to see me crying. My sister, Philly, told me your Dad yelled at them all, telling them it wasn't nice to pick on someone for something they couldn't control. After that, he ran to find me. I had jumped the creek behind the Potter's garden and was sitting on a rock not far away. He took me back to the house by a secret path and snuck me in the back door, so I wouldn't have to see anyone." Her smile grew as her eyelids fluttered, somewhere between open and closed, looking as though she were watching a movie of the day.

"He whistled for Sirius, they had their own dumb whistle code, never did teach it to the rest of us. Anyway, James went to find his Mum and ask her to find me a princess costume. She took me up to her room and Transfigured one of her cocktail dresses into the perfect princess dress. Meanwhile, James dressed himself all in grey and Sirius dressed in James' clothes, but his were all green. Your Dad was going to be the knight in shining armor while Sirius was the dragon he needed to slay to save me. He had bunk beds in his room and I climbed to the top one, as if I were in the tower. We played all afternoon, he slaying the dragon and saving me." Seph took in a shuddering breath before looking at me, fresh tears falling down her face.

"That's one of my favorite memories of him. After that, he sort of adopted me. I was his little sister, even though I was a few months older. He tried so hard to save me later. They all did, but it was your dad who tried anything and everything he could think of," she explained.

I wasn't sure what to say. I loved the story, I loved the idea of him wanting to protect her, someone who still seemed so broken, even as she strove to live her life and keep something he cared about running. She shook her head briefly, and then closed the book and handed it to me.

"Here, enjoy. There's lots of photos from our school years in there, as well as the other one on the desk there," she pointed toward her desk where an identical album sat. "Their engagement pictures are in there, as well as some from your Mum's hen night. As wild as our night might appear, it was tame compared to the stories of your Dad's stag." I laughed trying to imagine Seph ever letting lose.

"Thanks, I'm sure I will. I'm going to head home now, it's been a long day," I explained and she nodded, still not moving. Her face had slid back into the placid mask I saw most days, but her eyes betrayed her. They were overflowing with sorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: The chapter title is from a song by Avril Lavigne. There is a tissue warning on this chapter, as well as a discussion of torture and abuse, just so everyone is forewarned. MNF**

**Chapter 11:**

**Nobody's Home**

**Friday, October 2**

**Persephone's POV:**

I was sitting in the conference room of MMB 2 with Harry and Walter, listening to the elder man quizzing the younger. Harry wasn't aware, but today was the last day of his training. He'd done remarkably well, surpassing my expectations. He was even quite helpful in finding staff for both breweries. He sat in on as many of the interviews as he could, though he refused to do so when one of his friends from school was the applicant. He didn't want to be accused of favoritism, although I had more than enough faith in him to be completely objective in the matter.

I wished his mum and dad were here to see the man he'd become. To me, the poise with which he moved through his daily life was an even stronger testament to his character than his defeat of Voldemort in the spring. He was bright, but didn't flaunt his intelligence. He was humble, finding what was exceptional in others even when they were praising him. He was compassionate and concerned, fully listening when someone was speaking to him. He had an amazing natural charisma which made people want to follow him. Lily and I had spoken often about her dreams for her son; I'm sure wherever she was now, she was proud of the man her baby had become.

There were days, however, when Harry was hunched over a machine with Walter that I had to stop myself from calling him James. It was always painful when I needed to remind myself it wasn't my dear friend. As much as I missed my roommate, I missed him more. The resemblance of Harry to James was uncanny. It went beyond the physical as well. The glint James had in his eye, when he was about to lay out his most recent 'brilliant plan', was visible in Harry as well. It did not surprise me to find out he got into trouble while at school.

"It's the only one of the 'fortified' beers in which the alcohol content goes down," Harry was explaining to Walter. "Regular MMB has four and a half percent alcohol, but Purple Pleasure has only four percent." I smiled widely at the answer. Harry had learned it all, even the most mundane of facts regarding our product.

"Very good, very good," Walter praised him. "He's ready, boss."

"I knew that a week ago," I responded. "You were the one who wanted to keep teaching him." Harry had his head cocked slightly to the side and his brow was furrowed. "Harry, you've done it. You've learned the business, your ready to be the brewmaster of MMB 2. Congratulations!"

"Really, you're sure?"

I laughed at his response. "Absolutely sure," I confirmed. "Good thing, too, we're ready to bring the plant on-line on Monday. You're going to need to start the first batch of Wide Eyed Night on Monday morning. I have the crew prepping the grain for the mash over the weekend."

"Wow, I mean, thanks." Harry's humility was endearing.

"Tell you what, let me make sure the barrels of the MMB 1 brews arrived here okay, and then let me take you out for supper. You deserve it."

"I've got it Perri," Walter said. "I think they're all here, but I'll check before I go. Have a good weekend."

"Thanks, Walter. There should be three barrels each of MMB, Padfoot's Pride and Stag's Surprise."

"Got it," he said as he rose. "Congratulations, Harry. You've worked hard for this."

"Thanks, Walter, enjoy your weekend too," Harry wished him.

Walter left the conference room, and Harry and I rose and walked down to our offices.

"Let me just grab my coat and we'll be off. Do you want to be recognized or not?" I asked while we stood at the juncture of the hallways between our office doors.

"Not, if possible," he answered.

"I understand, I have the perfect pub for you."

A short time later we were in my car, driving to the Rose and Crown in Rickmansworth. The place was old, dimly lit, serving great food and an extensive selection of beer and wine. I parked my sedan in the lot and threw my coat in the backseat. I hated taking the ankle-length wool duster into pubs. Inevitably it got stepped on, and often something was spilled on it. I tucked my wand into my handbag and directed Harry toward the door. Just before we stepped inside I heard the chime letting me know my car alarm had been set.

We sat down in a booth and I handed the beer list to Harry. His eyes grew to twice their usual size while he was reviewing it.

"How do you pick?" he asked.

"Well, I usually go with something seasonal, or you can ask for a flight from a certain brewery. It's fun to try different things. Also, what you order as your drink can influence the meal you select," I reminded him.

"You pick the beer and then order dinner? Isn't that backwards?"

"Only in the mind of chefs and food snobs," I quipped back and he laughed.

Dinner was pleasant, we easily talked about his life and how Ginny was doing at school in France. He started asking about the original partners and I told him stories about us in school and when we were first starting. I wanted Harry to know the other founders, since we all considered him our little boy. We were his aunts and uncles and there was no shortage of love when he was small.

"I meant to ask you this a while ago," Harry started. "Why does the mascot not have any part of Wormtail on it? Did you change it after he..." Harry trailed off.

I shook my head before I started speaking. "Peter wanted out long before that," I explained. "I don't think he was involved for more than six months before he was asking for his start-up funds back."

"Why?"

"I'm not exactly sure," I answered honestly. "I was in hiding already, but your father explained it to me the best he could, but he barely had any information. It had something to do with his parents needing money. Peter had used an inheritance from his maternal grandparents to join the brewery, but the Pettigrews found themselves suddenly in need for gold. James offered him an interest free loan, but Peter wouldn't take it. Remus always thought it had to do with some legal issues which needed to be quietly dismissed."

"Would that have been a realistic problem for them?" Harry asked and I fought back my laugh.

"Peter's father was, well, odd. Mr. Pettigrew was a pure-blood wizard, his wife a half-blood. By rights Peter should have been accepted by wizarding society much better than he was. The Pettigrews were fairly ostracized, however, due to some of the stranger experiments Mr. Pettigrew had done. The guys knew more about it than the girls, and they refused to share the exact details. Your father once said: 'No woman needs to hear about that depravity.' He wasn't one to put women aside or think of them as anything but equal, so I assumed it must be quite awful what he was doing.

"Anyway, when Peter asked for his money, the rest of us voted to comply. The company was financially sound and would remain so even with the withdrawal, so your dad took him to the bank, had the goblin withdraw his initial deposit, as well as his portion of the proceeds to that point. The rest of us voted to then remove the rat tail from our then mascot, Stog Woat, and St. Dorf was born. To be honest, the first mascot always irritated me. No one wants to think about a rat being anywhere near the beer-making process." Harry chuckled at my last statement.

"I whole-heartedly agree. It was rather short-sighted of him, wasn't it, taking all of his money that way?" Harry asked and I nodded.

"Long term, yeah, it was. However, in other ways it was best. Eliza had broken things off with Peter only a month or so before. It had become uncomfortable to be around them both," I explained.

"Why? You said Remus had gone out with Sibéal. How was this different?" Harry inquired.

"Peter thought we all were taking her side in the break-up. The reality was, we were." Harry leaned forward and took a long pull on his German lager.

"What was going on?" I hesitated in telling him. There was no way I could tell the story of their past without getting into the disaster that was Eliza's present. He'd respected her privacy and never asked me about her story, but he had a right to know. The breweries took care of her.

"If I share this with you, Harry, you must promise the story remains between us. You may talk with Ginny, but no one else. Eliza deserves her privacy, especially considering the condition she's in now," I nearly begged him.

"Seph, it's obvious she was important to you and to my Mum and Dad, and I know none of you would betray her. I will not either," he answered. It was a good, honest answer. I was coming to expect nothing less of him.

"After we left school, Peter became very possessive of Eliza," I started, working hard to hold my emotions in. "She was so bubbly and gregarious, she made the perfect receptionist at MMB 2. She had a way to make everyone feel important and as though their business with us was the most significant part of the day. Peter didn't like that she spoke with other wizards. He really didn't understand the relationship between Eliza and Sirius. He was convinced she was stepping out on him with one of his best friends. There wasn't a scrap of truth to it. Peter went so far as to confront Sirius, suggesting they duel over Eliza. He would have never stood a chance against Sirius, and thankfully, even with his temper, Sirius refused to engage Peter. Truthfully, Sirius and Eliza were both natural flirts and enjoyed each other's company. It was harmless, and the rest of us knew it meant nothing. Remus's Tonks reminded me so much of Eliza and how she'd interact with people."

"I understand. Tonks was a force of nature. If Eliza was like her, I could see how someone might get confused," Harry said. "So what happened?"

"Eliza was tired of his accusations and of his making her feel poorly about herself simply because she did her job well. Finally, with the support of your mum and dad, she ended her three-year relationship with Peter. He didn't take the break up well, refusing to believe she wasn't interested in him anymore. Peter made Eliza's life very uncomfortable for a while. The other five ended up having to provide around-the-clock supervision, just to keep her safe from someone who claimed he loved her."

"What did Peter do?"

"Now, it's called stalking, but it wasn't a crime in the late seventies. He'd show up at her flat at all hours of the night, he'd follow her when she went to Diagon Alley to pick up supplies or do her errands. Eliza's flat wasn't far from your parents', and would often flee there. Peter started following her there, and to Sibéal's house and even to Remus and Sirius's flat. She eventually moved in with me for a while when he wouldn't leave her alone. He never knew where I was living. When he wanted out of the brewery, the rest of us saw it as a blessing.

"So he wasn't a partner by the time he betrayed my Mum and Dad?" Harry enquired.

"No, but he was still close with James and Remus," I explained. "When they had to pick a Secret-Keeper I was shocked when your dad chose him. I knew he was attempting to protect Sibéal and Eliza from the Death Eaters and Remus had refused, blaming his 'condition'. Sirius would have done it, but they thought it would be better to have him out there as a decoy, since it was so obvious how strong their friendship was. I wanted to do it, but James wouldn't put me into more danger. So, they went with Peter," I brushed the tear away from my eye and took a long sip to clear the cotton feeling in my mouth.

"When his death was announced, our lives were in chaos. Your mum and dad had been killed, Sirius was in Azkaban. We girls knew Sirius wasn't guilty, that he wouldn't have betrayed James and Lily to save his own life and that he wasn't the Secret-Keeper. We attempted to explain what we knew, but," I paused. I didn't want to go down this path right now. There were parts of this story I wasn't prepared to tell just yet. "Let's just say we weren't listened to, and leave the rest of that story for another day, shall we?"

"Alright," Harry said cautiously. "You promise you will tell me, though, right?"

"I do promise, just not here or now, okay?"

He nodded in response.

"Anyway, with Peter 'dead'," I said the word suspiciously, since the official evidence of his death was less than complete. Killing spells don't obliterate bodies and spells which would destroy a body wouldn't leave a finger behind. "Eliza was able to relax, move back into her flat and begin living her life. We all lived the best we could, until the summer he returned."

"In July of ninety-four, Peter kidnapped Eliza. We knew from Sirius and Remus he was out there, but we honestly never thought he'd be stupid enough to come near the breweries. We were all looking for him, hoping to turn him in and clear Sirius's name. He slipped into MMB 2 just after closing and took her. We looked for them in all the familiar haunts of his: his parents' house and their lake cabin, the Shrieking Shack, this dive of a bar he went to in Liverpool. There was no sign of them anywhere.

"Six weeks later, Eliza was found by the side of the M1, north of Nottingham. She was taken to a Muggle hospital where, thankfully, she was identified in the A and E department as a witch and quietly transferred to St. Mungo's. What he'd done to her-" I had to choke down the bile which had formed in my throat and was threatening to come further up. Harry reached over and took my hand, stroking the top with his thumb.

"We're not exactly sure what he was attempting, but he'd been plying her with some sort of potion. The best the investigators could decipher was a strong love potion, but it was so poorly made. Potions was truly Peter's worst subject," I rubbed my free hand across my forehead. "Her mind was gone. She recognized things, but she had no recent memories. Physically it was a miracle she was alive. He'd starved her, must not have left her with enough to drink because her kidneys were shutting down from dehydration. She was covered in bites and cuts and scratches, which were all infected." I paused to get control of my emotions.

"She'd also been assaulted, recently, and evidence pointed to more than one assailant. Since he was a Death Eater by then, and they had a proclivity for such behaviors, we assumed he...shared her." It was all out, everything I could say had been said. I couldn't, however, stop the images from moving behind my eyes.

"That bastard," Harry muttered under his breath. "If he weren't already dead, I'd find him and kill him with my bare hands."

"We all felt that way," I responded. "Do you understand why we arranged for the brewery to take care of her?" He nodded. "She's has excellent care at the facility she's in. We've never pushed to have her remember. The Healers believe the memories would simply be too traumatic to endure."

"I'd like to meet her one day," Harry asked and I nodded.

"Let me prepare her for your meeting. Given your resemblance to your dad, she will likely confuse the two of you. I need to make sure she's ready to see you."

"I understand. Thank you for trusting me," he quietly replied and we both went back to finishing our meals.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: The chapter title is from the song by Mumford and Sons. It's a haunting song, and a good glimpse into the mind of Persephone. The vocals are haunting. When you're done reading this chapter, I'd be interested in hearing your theories about Persephone. Her full story will be revealed soon, I promise. Thanks to my amazing beta, Arnel, who always finds time for me. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews, MNF**

**Chapter 12:**

**After the Storm**

**Monday, October 5**

**Persephone POV:**

_My Dearest One,_

_The magical plant goes back into production today. It's been a long seventeen months since the first building was destroyed. I would hope you'd be proud of what I've done. I so want to honor your memory by doing this. If it weren't for this being one of the only ways to keep your memory alive, I suppose I would have succumbed to the sadness which fills every cell of my body. I ache so from loneliness. Without you, my bed is cold in the morning, a seat is empty at my table, and there is a desolate nature to my soul which I know will never be filled. Be aware I only move forward in life as a testament to you and to those things we created together._

_I so long to tell Harry everything, to finally let my secrets be shared. I am, however, scared of his reaction. Will he see it as a betrayal? Will he understand why he wasn't told? Even in death we are in hiding what we were to one another. In life we weren't even this intensely private. Know I am not ashamed, only fearful of changing his opinion of you… and me._

_I carry your picture close to my heart, along with the picture of the one I wish you knew. I pray daily that you are content, and will be waiting for me when we can at last be together. I love you and miss you. You shall be in everything I do today._

_Forever,_

_P_

I put my quill down and closed the journal. I thought it was a silly idea when it was suggested to me I write to my lost love, it wasn't like my musings would be read. I tried it anyway, and found it did soothe my soul. I looked at the pictures in my locket before snapping it closed and sliding it beneath my blouse. I quickly checked my hair and make-up before reaching for the jacket to the suit I was wearing.

One would assume I'd be wearing robes, since it was safe to be part of the wizarding community again. That would be an incorrect assumption. I never liked them as a child and ditched the darn things whenever I could once at Hogwarts. Living as a Muggle, and getting to wear their clothing for almost twenty years was a delight. I was now spoiled. Muggle clothing was far more fashionable and figure flattering. I'd become addicted to designer clothing. It was my single largest expense in life, but I worked hard for the money I had, and decided I was worth it. The suit I was wearing today cost much more than many people paid for their rent each month. Add in my shoes and you might as well be paying someone's mortgage. I tried not to think about what would happen if I added in my lingerie.

I pulled the jacket up over my arms and settled it on my shoulders. The black suit looked good with the red silk blouse I wore underneath. I affixed the broach of the brewery logo I'd had made to my left lapel and then slid my feet into the heels. The bright red peep-toe pumps made the outfit. I not only felt good in these clothes, but I looked like the boss in them.

I went downstairs and quickly spoke with Beaghy and was nearly ready to leave when a sleepy Connor made his way down the stairs. I lifted the toddler up and carried him to the kitchen, so my house-elf could get him breakfast.

"You look pwetty," he told me in a sleepy voice, his little hands rubbing at his eyes.

"You look sleepy," I told him back and he nodded. "Did you sleep alright last night?" He shook his little head.

"Dweamed about Daddy," he told me. "Wish he were here."

"I know you do, little man." I put him down in his chair and kissed his crown. It seemed like everyone was a little sad this morning. Without another word, I picked up my travel mug of coffee and went out the back door to Disapparate to work.

Harry was already in his office when I arrived. I wasn't used to not being the first one into the plant in the mornings.

"You know, you keep getting here before me and you're going to make me look bad," I teased him. Harry laughed with me.

"Never, Seph. You're dedicated to this place and we all know it. I just wanted to make sure I understood the mash recipe for the Wide Eyed Night. I don't want to mess it up," he told me and I couldn't help but smile in response.

"Harry, it's in your blood to be doing this," I reminded him. "You're going to do fine. Remember, over half your staff on the brew floor has done this before."

"I know, but I don't want them to think I'm not capable and they should have my job instead."

"Harry, none of them will think that, I promise you. Plus, I will be here with you, and I've cooked the mash a time or two before," I reminded him and he nodded in acquiescence. "I'll meet you in the brew room at eight, okay?" He nodded and I went into my office.

We'd hired the staff we needed for both plants, and today was the first day many of the new recruits would be reporting for work. Harry had been correct in his statement about being helpful in finding people who were in need of work. Several of his friends and acquaintances had fit our job requirements perfectly. I checked my watch and realized I needed to meet with the first of these folks in five minutes.

I went to the pile of new staff shirts I'd had made and found the section which belonged to our new receptionist. I'd asked her to wear a simple white tee-shirt and black trousers or a skirt today, so she could add her red and white pin-stripe oxford shirt to her outfit. Whether she wore robes or not was up to her. Lifting up her items from the stacks, I went to the lobby to meet her. I was happily surprised to see her sitting at the main desk, unloading a small box with her personal items.

"Miss Bones, right on time," I called to her as I left the office suite. Susan Bones had been the best of the applicants and her references were glowing. What I appreciated was how she'd voiced her devotion to Harry. One of the hazards in having an outgoing person working at the front desk was the propensity for gossip. The last thing Harry needed was his name in The Daily Prophet more than it was already. After interviewing her, I was sure she would not provide the paper with information outside of our regular press releases.

"Miss Gwynn, it's good to see you again," she said as she rose to greet me, sticking her hand out to shake mine. I shifted the pile of clothing around so I could return the gesture.

"You, too, dear. All settled in here?"

"I am. I didn't bring much with me," she explained. "None of it is inappropriate, is it?" She'd brought in a small ever-blooming rose bush and two pictures. One of her family; I recognized her aunt, Amelia; and the other of a young man.

"That's quite a handsome young man there," I said, indicating his picture. "He your beau?" Susan nodded.

"That's Anthony Goldstein. We've been together for almost two years. He asked me to marry him last week," Susan gushed as she lifted her hand to show me her beautiful engagement ring.

"Congratulations! Does Harry know?"

"I really wanted to tell Ginny, Hermione and Luna first. I wrote to them the other day, I'm just waiting to hear back," she explained.

"Your secret is safe with me, although that ring might catch his attention. Not much gets by Harry," I warned as I handed her the blouses. "Why don't you go to the loo and change and then we'll go over the Floo settings?"

"Okay, I'll be right back," she chirped before heading into the ladies. Harry emerged from the office suite while I was waiting.

"You heading in to get started?"

"I am, you coming in, too?"

"I'll be there in a few," I explained. "Susan just arrived here and I want to go over the Floo communications settings with her, and make sure her paperwork is all in order. Audrey should be here by nine and I want everyone's parchment on her desk, so they can get paid on Friday."

"I'm sure they would like that as well. Hey, did I tell you Percy proposed to her over the weekend? Ginny and Hermione came home on Sunday for an engagement party," he explained. I shook my head and had to reign in my smile.

"Just like the first time around," I mused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when people thought Voldemort was gone the first time around, they celebrated by getting married or having babies. Didn't you ever wonder why the classes a couple of years behind you at Hogwarts were so large?"

"I hadn't noticed," he confessed.

"1982 and 1983 had some of the highest wizarding birth rates ever recorded. It's human nature, when things are going well, more babies are born, people get married," I explained. "Oh, and beer sales go up, which is very good for us." Harry smiled widely at the comment.

"Yes, it is." The door to the loo swung open and Susan walked out wearing her MMB logo blouse. When she exited she walked right over to Harry and hugged him. "It's good to see you, Harry. How have you been?"

"Excellent, Susan. I'm glad you're on board with us. I'm sure you'll do great," he encouraged her and I could see the young witch stand a little taller at his words. His friends really did trust him and take his words to heart. "Susan, is that an engagement ring?" She blushed.

"It is," she confirmed and Harry hugged her again. "Anthony proposed last week. We're looking at a winter wedding," she explained. "He still wants to join the Aurors when he can next year."

"Excellent on both counts! I'll tell Ginny when I speak with her tonight."

"I wrote her about it already, sorry."

"Not a problem, I'm glad she knows. Well, I need to be getting to work, but I'll speak with you more about it at lunch?" he asked.

"Sure thing, Harry." Harry nodded his head and then entered the brew floor. I quickly went over the settings with Susan, and she picked up the intricacies of the Floo communications settings quickly. Assured she was comfortable, I left her with a book explaining our brews, in great detail, and told her if she needed me to simply call for me over the loud speakers.

I went into the brew room and met with Harry and the brew staff. I was able to bring back four of the staff members from the former magical plant: Robby, Floyd, Diane and Hank. Three of them had been with us for years and while magical, their skills weren't strong. The exception was Floyd, who was a very powerful wizard and had worked for the Hit Squad for years. As he'd gotten older and grew tired of dealing with political types, he'd chosen a second career, coming to work for us. Floyd was able to correct a great many mistakes and I liked how he thought on his feet. He was respectful of Harry, and I knew we'd have no problems with the old staff respecting Harry's leadership. Where Floyd went, the others would follow. Added to the people we'd been able to bring back were two of Harry's school mates; Justin Fitch-Fletchley and Daphne Greengrass. They were both intelligent and had done well in Potion Making. I was glad to see Harry had gotten all of them their new shirts, and they were all dressed and looking like a cohesive team, which I hoped they'd become soon.

I stayed back and watched as Harry directed the team in starting the mash. He'd obviously studied everyone's personnel files, as he assigned each of them necessary tasks which played to their strengths. I heard echoes of Walter's voice as Harry gave his instructions and explained the process they'd be using today. I stayed with him for about thirty minutes, but it was obvious he had things well in hand.

My next task was to meet with Audrey Abercrombie, our new bookkeeping witch. I was prepared to let Kate take care of the books for this place as well, but was surprised to find Audrey was very adept in mathematics and finances. This had always been Remus's area for the brewery. It felt a little strange to be training someone else in the job, but it was needed and I reminded myself today was about moving forward.

Audrey was very quiet and proper. I wasn't at all surprised to see her in tidy robes. We quickly went over the forms each of the staff had filled out and she made a list of the few bits of parchment that were missing. I also took her over to Gringotts to introduce her to our goblin liaison, as well as have her signatures added onto our accounts. Within an hour I had completely trained Audrey, and she was beginning to set up the payroll and expense accounts.

Mid-morning had the new potion makers/charms workers coming in for their training. In the past, all the charming had been done initially by James and Sirius, then Sibéal and Eliza, and then after Eliza's attack, by Sibéal and her husband; Fergus Figg. Fergus was the only outside person we'd ever used, but by the time he started working for us, he was family. While Harry and I could have done this work as well, it would have certainly overworked us.

With Harry's assistance, we'd hired another pair of his school mates: Padma Patil and Dean Thomas. They both had done very well in the tests I'd put them through to check their magical skills, and Harry swore to their loyalty. They were working with closely held secrets, the very essence of what made the MMB beers special. If these potions or the specific charming instructions were ever sold, we'd take a significant financial hit.

I'd given each of them a potion book to study, and was pleased when they were prepared to start the potion which turned our MMB brew into Purple Pleasure. I watched until I felt confidant in their abilities. Promising I'd be back to test the potion, I left them alone to do their work.

Shortly before noon the last of the new staff - those who would be staffing the tap room – arrived, followed by the catered lunch which I'd arranged. We gathered everyone together in the tap room where they shared in lunch and were able to sample the Muggle beers. I watched as the older staff members interacted with the new. I was happy they seemed to be getting along. Even Angus, our ancient custodian, was in an almost pleasant mood. I remained quiet, observing everything. I was lost in my thoughts as I watched how the young ones interacted with each other and especially Harry. He sidled up to me silently and startled me when he started speaking, not knowing what he said.

"Sorry, Seph, I didn't mean to frighten you," he said.

"It's okay, I was just lost in thought," I explained.

"I could tell," he said. "Anything you want to share?" I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to decide what exactly to say.

"Just watching you and your friends, it reminds me so much of us when we were young and starting out," I explained, holding back my tears. In a move so reminiscent of his father, Harry took my hand and gave it a squeeze, making me struggle with my tears even more.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Yes, the chapter is named after the Pink song, although I prefer the Glee cast version. I had an interesting time with your theories in the last chapter. There were people close to the truth, and there were people who were way off base. Soon, very soon you'll know the truth. Have fun with this chapter, it's meant to be. Thanks to Arnel, my wonderful beta, for rocking my world. Enjoy, MNF**

**Chapter 13:**

**Raise Your Glass**

**Friday, October 23, 1998**

**Ginny POV:**

Hermione, Luna, Neville and I had taken a Portkey from Avignon to London after our last class today so we could be here for the opening of the Tap Room at MMB 2. It was only a few months since Harry and I had our lesson on pouring beer and pairing it with food. That day it was empty, save the three of us; tonight the place was packed. I could barely maneuver around the room as I was taking orders from some of the dignitaries present, including Headmistress McGonagall and Minister Shacklebolt. Who knew our former Transfigurations teacher liked to throw back a pint every once in a while.

"Miss Weasley, sit down for a moment, please," she asked. I knew this wasn't a request, but instead a directive. I pulled out the third chair at their small table and sat down. "How are things at Beauxbatons?" I knew she'd been disappointed when my friends and I decided to go to France to finish our schooling, and yet she was very understanding.

"Very well," I honestly replied. "The school is organized a little differently, but I'm doing well in my classes. Transfiguration is one of my best subjects."

"You always were very bright. I'm very happy to know you're doing well. The Gryffindor Quidditch team misses you, however."

"I miss them, too," I confessed. "I'm on a team at Beauxbatons, but it's not the same without the intra-house rivalries."

"Aren't you divided up into houses there?" Kingsley asked and I shook my head.

"There are several different dormitories, but the students can choose which one they live in. They're set up differently as well, a little like small flats. The one we live in has four private bedrooms, two loos and a large sitting room. It's much quieter than having a common room and shared dormitory space."

"Who is your fourth?" The headmistress asked. "It must be difficult if there's a French-speaking girl in with the three of you." I squirmed in my seat just a little before I answered.

"Er, well, see, Neville is our roommate. He's got his own bedroom and he shares a loo with Luna. He's a good flatmate. Clean, patient, smart and he can calm Hermione down and somehow understands Luna so it makes him ... useful."

"Well, that's certainly much more lax than things would be if you were still at Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall snipped. I had to suppress my giggles.

"They are living in France, Minerva," Kingsley responded to her comment. I knew to keep my mouth shut and I swear I heard something about 'brazen attitudes' under her breath.

"I really do need to get back to work, Hannah and Seamus look swamped up there," I said glancing at the bar. "Can I get refills for either of you?"

"Yes," the professor replied. "This is quite delicious." She was drinking _Lover's Libation_, and she was right, it was delicious. I lifted her glass and then looked to Kingsley.

"This time I think I'll try the..." he paused, looking at the listing of beers charmed onto the table surface. "_Hair of the Dog_."

"You've got it," I answered, lifting his dirty pint glass. I walked back to the counter and slid in behind it, depositing the dirty glasses in the bin under the counter and selecting new glasses and pouring the two requests. I noticed Hannah had her wand out, so I called her.

"Hannah, can you put a warming charm on _LL_ for me?" I pushed the mug closer to her and she tapped the lip twice, and steam began to rise. "These for table nine?"

"They are," I confirmed. "McGonagall's on her third beer. We might need to arrange a sober Side-Along-Apparition for her." It was a tad surreal to even be thinking about the otherwise prim and proper headmistress letting her hair down.

"Let me know if you think she needs it. Harry said he'd take anyone who over imbibes home safely."

"That sounds like my man," I quipped before I took the glasses to the table. I continued to make the rounds, checking in on different tables, picking up dirty glasses and generally making sure everyone was having a good time and relieving staff who needed a break. Seeing so many of my old school friends in jobs which suited them so well made me happy. I knew Harry was behind the hiring of them, and the care he took to surround himself with people he knew he could trust. The press was still very interested in him; but they were all over Seph. Thing was, at thirty-nine, she knew how to handle them with a grace and finesse which was something to watch.

Last week Harry and Seph had sat down with Mr. Lovegood and done an exclusive pre-opening interview about the tap room and the re-opening of MMB #2. Seph had disappeared in 1978, the same day she left Hogwarts. No one in her family knew anything about where she was or what she was doing. After a while it was widely assumed she'd died. In May, days after the final battle at Hogwarts, she reappeared, saying nothing about where she'd been for nearly twenty years. There was gossip about what had happened, some even hinting at her being in league with the Death Eaters. The article for _The Quibbler_ served as promotion for the tap room but also to explain where Persephone Gwendolyn MacPhearson had been, at least to the extent of explaining she had run the Muggle arm of the business. We still didn't know why she'd disappeared. The more rumors I heard, the more concerned I became. Harry had become quite attached to her, I didn't think he could bear to lose another person who had been friends with his parents. Independent from one another, we'd both concluded it must be something horrific which drove her into hiding. Our conversation about the situation had been interesting.

One thing I did have to give Seph though, she certainly knew how to dress to impress. She surprised everyone by not wearing conventional robes, but instead a hybrid outfit. Muggle skirt and blouse with a very flattering short cape; oh, and some killer stiletto boots. How she was able to walk in them I wasn't sure. She was sitting with the reporter from _The Daily Prophet_ now, and had the wizard eating out of her hand. She caught my eye from across the room and smiled in such a way to let me know she was unimpressed with her company. I couldn't wait to talk with her about it later.

Harry had introduced me to several other reporters already. _Challenges in Charming, The Practical Potioneer_, and _Wizard's Alcohol Aficionado_ came to cover the opening for their readers, giving attention to their specific slant. I figured none of them could come up with anything as strange as _The Quibbler's_ odd accompanying article about "Twenty things to do with beer (aside from drinking it)". Who knew bathing in beer would get you clean and condition your skin? As I made my circuit around the room again, I noticed a witch sitting with Harry, getting a little too comfortable with him. They were sitting at the far end of the bar, and as I came closer I could see on her back, the logo from _Witch Weekly_ emblazoned across. It wasn't bad enough they'd labeled Harry as Britain's most eligible wizard when he wasn't eligible, but now she was flirting with him. I decided I needed to remind this tart of whose man Harry is.

I slipped behind the bar and accidentally ran into Seamus Finnegan, the newly hired bartender. He, along with Hannah Abbott, was the regular staff for the tap room. They played off each other well, Seamus's bigger than life personality and outgoing persona were balanced by Hannah's ability to listen and empathize. I was headed toward Harry's end when I bumped into the former Gryffindor.

"Sorry, need to go remind that - **woman** - Harry Potter is taken."

"You go get 'em, Ginny. Oh, and don' be 'fraid to do that bogey thing of yours," he exclaimed. "Ain't seen anythin' worse!"

"Good idea, Seamus," I quipped. "Hand me the bar rag, would ya?" He picked up the aforementioned cloth.

"It's dirty," he explained.

"All the better," I replied and he tossed it to me. It smelled like it hadn't been cleaned in a day or two. Perfect thing to hand her to clean up those flying bogeys. I strode toward the pair, Harry looking relieved to see me coming.

"Hello, sweetheart," I cooed at him, surprising the other witch. She instantly turned a bright red in the face, like a naughty child caught swiping treats. It wasn't like she ever had a chance with Harry. "Finally got a free second to come over," I announced before I pressed my lips to his. I threw myself into the kiss, and Harry didn't seem to mind at all. I reluctantly pulled away from him when we heard her clearing her throat. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there. I'm Ginny, Harry's girlfriend."

"Yes, I know who you are," she replied flatly before looking back at Harry with a hungry smile on her face. "I was simply making sure England's most eligible bachelor didn't need anything. Put the word out, and Harry could have anything he desired." She was honestly flirting with my boyfriend right in front of me. I nearly laughed aloud at the stupid nicknames I was coming up with in my head for her. About to confront her, I was stopped by Harry.

"Look, Agatha-" Harry started.

"Amber," she interrupted, irritated.

"Amber," he over politely corrected himself. "There is absolutely nothing I can think of desiring which you could provide. Thanks for coming tonight, and for the feature on the bar you've promised to write. We appreciate the press," he stated and then leaned in to her. "However, just so you understand, I'm not eligible. My heart and everything else belongs to Gin." He sat back on his stool. "Thanks again for coming tonight. Here, let me show you to the door."

"Don't worry about it Harry," my brother Charlie suddenly appeared behind her and helped Amber from her seat, slightly forcefully. He stood nearly a foot taller than her, outweighed her by one hundred pounds and looked rather frightening with the dragon tooth dangling from his ear and the still healing gash on his cheek a baby Hebridean Black christened his return to work with. He walked her - well almost carried her - from the bar to the Disapparation point outside. Harry, nearly everyone else and I were laughing at Amber's dismissal.

"Looks like you might not win _Witch Weekly's Most Winning Smile_ in the next issue, Harry," Seph teased. I hadn't heard her walk up next to me, to engrossed in the Amber show.

"Fine by me," Harry snorted. "Hate the attention anyway."

"Well, at least no one asked you if you'd been in the loony house for the last twenty years," she quipped.

"They didn't," I nearly screeched. The nerve of some people.

"I sent that one packing, too," she explained. "The press is definitely like bees, what they can create is sweet, but dealing with them individually can be very painful." Laughter broke out around us at Seph's description. I wanted to ask her about where she really was, but I knew this wasn't the place. "Heck, that's why I wore these boots tonight."

"What do you mean?" I asked looking down at her four-inch heeled, knee-high black leather boots.

"Ah, these were affectionately nicknamed my 'kick-ass' boots by Sirius," she explained and the name fit. "When I'm wearing these, I feel like I could take on the world."

"Well, Seph, dressed like you are, you look like you're already in control of it," Charlie flirted back, which surprised and made me slightly sick.

"Well, with your scar there, you look like you took it on," she flirted right back. "Hey, can you go offer to take Minerva McGonagall back to Hogwarts. She's a little tipsy."

"Sure thing, kick-ass," he replied with a wink. Harry and I looked at her, waiting for some explanation.

"You and MY brother?"

"Oh, no, no, no," Seph said shaking her head. "Just some harmless flirting. Your brother is far too young for me."

"He's twenty-five, almost twenty-six," I rebutted.

"I'm thirty-nine, Ginny. Talk about robbing the cradle!"

"Seph, you know it might be good for you," Harry interjected, starting to double-team her.

"Harry, Ginny, I appreciate your concern, but Charlie doesn't even live here. Love and marriage aren't in the cards for me," she quietly explained.

"You're still young, Seph, and very beautiful -"

"Oh, Ginny, that's so sweet of you to say," she interrupted me. "Look, at one point I might have agreed with you, but ... this is my life. I'm married to the brewery." She sounded resigned, almost hopeless. "Listen to me you two, what you have is so precious and wonderful. Hold onto it and to each other. Life can change so quickly, and something you thought you'd have forever is suddenly lost. Live your lives so you never have to regret opportunities when they've passed." With that Seph turned on her heel, walked out the door to the lobby and vanished. I had the feeling we'd learned more about Seph just then than we had in the months we'd known her.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hello all, this chapter has a definite tissue warning. The song is by the Barenaked Ladies, and if say too much more, I'll give something away. I'm anxious to hear what you have to say. MNF**

**Chapter 14:**

**Another Heartbreak**

**Saturday, October 31, 1998**

**Harry POV:**

I hate today.

Not Hallowe'en, but today; October 31. Today is the anniversary of the day my perfectly stitched world was ripped apart and sewn back into a too-small, poorly patched, scrap of a quilt. No matter how hard I tried while I was growing up, it never seemed to fit me. My feet would peek out, or my shoulders would be left bare to be chilled in the night air. I lived for ten years with only the vaguest, cloudiest memory of being loved and cherished and wanted.

I was just fifteen months old when Mum and Dad were taken from me. Most people can't remember a thing from being that small. I forced myself to remember. Every night as I went to sleep, I would make myself remember what my mum looked like. How her green eyes danced when she saw me. How her red hair danced around her like flames when we were playing outside. How she smelled when she cuddled me close to rock me to sleep. How good her hands felt as she held me, providing me safety I would wait a lifetime to feel again. There was no one as beautiful as my mum. Well, maybe, there was just one. She's the only other person who made me feel truly safe. My love also comforted me when I'd awake, screaming, terrified of the monsters haunting my dreams. The two are so alike. I wish I knew if my mum were happy with my choice of partners.

My memories of my dad are different. Where times with Mum were soft and nurturing, time with Dad was loud and ruckus. I remember the first time he took me up on his broom with him. I wasn't even a year old, but I remember the feel of the wind on my face and his strong hands securing me to him while he steered the broom. "There's no other feeling like this in the world," he told me. "This is freedom, son." He was so right. On my broom I could forget everything everyone expected of me, and simply be free. Dad read to me too, all the time, anything he was reading, he'd do it aloud so I could hear. His voice was deep and resonate, his brogue wasn't thick, but his r's rolled along and his vowels had a distinct sound to them. He spoke so differently than my mum or his friends, and I remember sitting on his lap, putting my hands on either side of his face, the stubble on his cheeks rough to my hands. I was just watching his lips carefully, wondering what made his words so different than anyone else's.

I have memories of the others, too, although I had no names to go with the faces until recently. Sibéal is the one who sang to me, and Eliza had an infectious laugh. I can hear both of them if I keep my mind and world quiet, and I let my consciousness slip into its deepest recesses.

It's harder to separate memories of Sirius and Remus from what I remember, and what I recall them telling me. I know Sirius took me on his motorbike. I knew it even before he'd told me. It wasn't too long before they were all gone from my life. He'd zippered me into his jacket, all warm and snug, and we'd motored along the remote and deserted street the cottage we lived in was on. His beard tickled my neck and the back my head.

I instinctively raised my palm to touch the place on my head, slipping my hand under my hair, between my scalp and the pillow.

Sirius smelled different, too; tangy, strong and like the huge bales of hay the farmers outside of town would bring in during the fall. I didn't know it then, but Sirius always smelled like hops, wheat and alcohol. It was the beer. My third day of working with Walter brought about that recollection. When I told Walter, he laughed, saying, "That boy would have showered in it and dipped his clothes in, too, if we'd let him."

I remember Padfoot as well. I was certain I had a dog as a child, and after I was deposited at my aunt and uncle's house, I wondered where he was. I once asked Aunt Petunia where my doggy had gone, she told me I'd never had a dog. I knew she was wrong, even though I was only three at the time. When I saw Sirius change over to keep us safe from Remus, I was relieved. At least the my dog hadn't died. Not yet anyway.

If Sirius smelled like beer, then Remus smelled like the outdoors, the woods. I understood why now. Where my dad and Sirius were loud with me, Remus was much more subdued. He told me wizarding stories, and not just ones from books. He'd tell me about famous witches and wizards, Aesop's Fables, fairytales. His voice was as soft as my blankets, and I often heard him while I went to sleep in my cot. Seph told me the other day that he used to slip into my bedroom and talk me to sleep. Apparently, Mum would brag about how well I went to sleep on my own, never realizing I was being lulled to sleep by my uncle, the werewolf.

I sat up in my bed, wondering why today was hitting me so much harder than the last few years had. Heck, last year we didn't even realize what day it was until Hermione remarked about what she'd seen going on in the village in the valley below where we were camping. Today though, it was as if my memories were a weight on top of me, holding me to my bed, making movement nearly impossible. It felt like every bit of energy I had was used in simply sitting up.

Ginny had wanted to be here with me today, but I told her not to come home this weekend. She'd spent all of the last one here, ignoring her revisions, which had now piled up. She had two essays due this week, each one over two feet long, as well as examinations in Transfiguration and Defense. I didn't want her schoolwork to suffer, and I could feel I wouldn't have been good company anyway.

Running my hands through my hair I wondered why this year was so much harder than the rest, and then I spied the volumes of photo albums haphazardly piled on my desk. Seph had loaned me all the memories she could find. I was closer to my parents this year than I had been since they died. Even when Remus and Sirius were alive they never shared as intimate of memories with me as Seph had. My parents were now very real people for me, not just bits of memories I clung to with desperate need. They were interesting, flawed, unpredictable and wonderful now. Seph's relationship with them became mine. While I relished the memories, it also highlighted just how much I was missing now.

I laid my head back against the pillows and wept.

I didn't allow myself open grief often. It didn't seem to me to be productive. If I truly paused to mourn what I lost...

Fresh tears began and I knew I needed to pull myself together. I would not allow myself to waste a perfectly good Saturday, regardless of the date, when there were things to do and people I could see.

I wiped my face with the bottom of my tee-shirt and threw the blankets back. I swung my feet around so I was sitting on the edge of the bed, rolling my neck around to work the kinks out. I then twisted my torso and stretched my arms over my head, loosening my tight muscles. My glasses were on the bedside table, as was my wand. Setting my feet onto the cold floor, I flicked my wand at the bed and made it before trudging toward the loo to go through my morning routine.

I ate my breakfast in the sitting room, going over the news from the _Daily Prophet_. There was another article about Seph and the mystery of her twenty-year absence. This one suggested she'd been an operative for the Ministry of Magic, working in the Netherlands. I wasn't sure where they were getting this stuff, but there wasn't a scrap of truth in what I read. I looked up and saw the picture of Teddy, Ginny and me at the London Zoo during the summer. He was too small to truly enjoy the day out, but Ginny and I had enjoyed having him with us. It hit me then; I knew where to spend my day. Teddy was too small to truly have memories of his Mummy and Daddy, but I wouldn't let him forget.

Andromeda was usually home on Saturdays, complaining that the shops were often overcrowded and she disliked being in them. She usually did her errands on Wednesday nights, when I had my weekly play-date with my godson. I stopped and picked up a little jack-o-lantern romper for Teddy. The outfit was all orange, with black cut-outs to make the face across the tummy of the suit. I had seen a picture of me wearing something very similar, Mum in a jack-o-lantern dress and Dad in a matching tee. We looked ridiculous, but happy. I also bought him a silly stuffed cauldron with a plush eye of newt, toad's leg, and bat wing you could put inside and then take out again. Knowing Teddy, he'd end up putting them in his mouth, but it was the thought which counted, right?

I Apparated to the front walk of the Tonks' home. She was in a predominately wizarding neighborhood, so I didn't feel the need to conceal myself. If a Muggle saw me, I could quickly erase the memory. No one was even on the street, however, so my worries were for naught. I eased myself through the kissing gate. It squeaked open and then closed again, so I pointed my wand at it and quickly did a greasing charm. I liked helping Andromeda around the house, taking care of things for her. She needed someone to look after her as much as Teddy did.

I knocked on the door and she answered it quickly, surprised to see me there.

"Harry, I'm surprised to see you. Did I forget you having plans with Teddy?"

"No, you didn't. I have nothing to do today, so I thought I could come spend the day with my godson. It's not a problem, is it?" She looked concerned, biting her lip nervously. "If it's not a good time, I can go."

"It's not that, Harry," she quickly stopped my exit. "Er, I have someone here ..." she trailed off.

"Oh, I don't want to interrupt," I hastily added, even though I would be disappointed to be spending the day alone.

"Andi, don't worry about it," a familiar voice said from inside the house. "He's going to learn the truth sooner or later. Let him in." Andromeda nodded and I saw Seph inside, sitting on the love seat, a little boy at her feet, playing with Teddy who was lying on the floor.

I stepped into the house and heard the door close behind me. I couldn't take my eyes off the boy. I felt like I was falling, even though I was standing perfectly still.

"Who is he?" I muttered.

"This is my son, Connor," Seph said weakly. I looked at his face, his hair, his eye color. I couldn't believe it. He looked so familiar. Too familiar.

"Do I even need to ask who his father is?"

"No," she whispered. I was no longer shocked. I was angry that she'd kept this, him, from me.

"How could you not tell me? He's my family!"


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hi, sorry this is a day late, I was on vacation and forgot my laptop at home. No updating or writing while away, which was probably better for the vacation aspect of our trip. This is it, you're finally going to learn about dear Seph's story. I've enjoyed your theories, but this chapter might make you re-think those theories. The song is by Adele, and it truly explains Seph's attitude and emotions. Thanks for reading, folks. MNF**

**Chapter 15:**

**Turning Tables**

**Persephone's Story:**

This wasn't how I wanted to do this. I wanted to be in control of the situation, not have to tell him everything out of desperation. Andi had just been telling me I'd waited too long, that when I finally did have to explain everything, he was going to be hurt. She was right. I could see it in his eyes.

"Sit down, Harry," I asked him. "I'll explain everything to you."

Harry complied. Connor immediately toddled up to him and rested his little head on Harry's knee.

"I Connor. Who you?"

"I'm Harry," he choked out. "It's nice to meet you, Connor."

"You pway today?"

"Maybe, after I talk to your Mummy." Connor wiggled his little hand under Harry's left palm where it lay against his thigh and held it.

"Mummy, Harry pway today!" It took so little to please the dark-haired little boy.

"I know, sweetie, won't that be fun?" I answered, the tension of the situation evident in my voice.

"Connor," Andi called to my son, "why don't we take Teddy into the kitchen and we'll make some biscuits." She lifted Teddy off the blanket he was on while laying on the floor. Connor looked to me.

"Can I, Mummy?" I nodded at him, not sure I trusted my voice. "You come, Harry?" Harry smiled at the excited toddler, which was more than I deserved, but I was thankful for it.

"I really need to speak with your Mummy," he explained. Connor nodded and left the room with Andi and Teddy.

"He's adorable," Harry remarked.

"Thank you," I replied. "This isn't how I wanted to do this," I explained. "I just couldn't figure out how to tell you -" Harry interrupted me.

"I have a child, would have worked well. Oh, and his dad is -"

"Believe me, I know what I could have said," I interrupted his anger. "It was his parentage which would become the issue, which I'm sure it is now. I'll tell you everything, but you need to let me start from the beginning. It's the only way this makes sense."

"Fine," he nervously played with the sleeves of his jumper while draging the word out, making it sound as if it were two syllables. "Please, Seph, tell me, and don't leave anything out." I settled back into the seat I was in and began my story.

"Harry, I was my father's princess. Anything I wanted, he gave to me. From the earliest memories I have, my daddy promised me the world. He'd told me over and over, one day he'd find me the perfect man, and for him I'd be queen. I believed in him, completely. One of my older sisters married the crown prince of Bavaria. I was only six when Paderau married Sir Henry Lancaster, and the day was something out of a fairy tale. I envied her so, I wanted to be the girl in the gossamer fairy dress.

"Every time another one of my sisters was married, my daddy would promise when my time came, I would marry someone worthy of me. This was my fate, and I did everything I should to ensure I would be the precise wife my future husband would need. I stayed away from most boys, only getting close to the Marauders, half of whom I'd known since we were in nappies.

"My announcement was to be set on Imbolic of 1978, with the wedding being in the fall on the celebration of Lughnasahd. We'd have six months to get to know one another, learn to love each other. I was anxious about it at Yule that year. We had all remained at Hogwarts, theoretically to study, the reality was to finalize plans for the brewery. My friends assured me my father wouldn't let me down. I never told anyone, but when I was little, I had hoped perhaps my marriage could have been set with your dad, or Peter or Sirius. I thought it would be nice to be married to someone I already liked, and who liked me.

I paused and looked over at Harry. There was still so much tension in his body I was exhausted by the sight. How hard it must be to hold every muscle firm like that. I ran my hands through my hair and looked away, choosing to stare at the figurine of a night angel Andi had over her fireplace.

"My father never officially supported the Dark Lord, but he did believe pure-blood witches and wizards should control the wizarding world, and have greater rights than those with mixed blood. He was very distrusting of magical people born of Muggles, like your Mum. He loathed to associate with Muggles, and avoided them when he could. I had his attitudes when I was a child, but as I came to know your mum and Remus, my attitudes changed. Dad worked for the International Confederation of Wizards. He was the official liaison between the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot and the ICW. It wasn't a high paying job, but the prestige which went with it meant much more to my daddy. Anyway, Mum had inherited her family's fortune – which was quite substantial – as well as the whole chain of shops. When I entered Hogwarts, there were forty-six of them throughout the British Isles.

"Even with all of this, there was still pressure on my father to swear his allegiance to the Dark Lord. I have no doubt my parents pledged money to his efforts, but my father didn't like the attitudes which were espoused regarding law and order. My father believed in the Ministry and the ICW, he didn't want them overthrown and their power given to one man. For this reason, and probably this reason alone, my father never joined as a Death Eater."

"It was brave of him to resist like that," Harry said quietly, and his comment surprised me. Not only had Harry not spoke in a long while, but there was a tone of appreciation in his voice I had not expected. I let my eyes wander back to Harry and offered a slight smile, which he immediately returned.

"I suppose it was," I agreed before continuing on my story. "I didn't go home for the winter holidays my seventh year. Three days after New Year's, my father was sent to Romania to help quell an on-going dispute between a large coven of vampires and several wizarding families. No one was ever able to concretely prove exactly how it happened, but my father was knocked over the head with a large object and then fell off the mountain where the dispute was taking place. He died instantaneously. I was devastated when the news reached me.

"All my friends came home with me, helped my mother prepare for his funeral. Your grandfather handled the legal things for my mum. It was in my father's papers where we discovered who my betrothal had been set to. I was set to marry Thornsten Lestrange," I nearly choked on the words.

"I thought there were only two Lestrange brothers, Rodolphus and Rabastian?" Harry inquired. "Was her their brother, or cousin?" I shook my head.

"He was their father. The reasoning for it was never discovered, but at eighteen, I was to marry a nearly sixty-year-old man. His retched reputation preceded him, and I was terrified. This wasn't the perfect man I was promised. He wasn't someone who would love and cherish me. Thornsten's use of young girls was well known, and here I was being married off to a man who had, somehow, evaded punishment for his numerous beating, assaulting and killing teen-aged girls. I couldn't marry him, there was absolutely no way I would do that to myself.

"Your grandfather set to work to break the betrothal contract for me. Unfortunately, due to my father's untimely passing, it couldn't be broken. Lestrange had it worded in such a way as to make it unbreakable and nontransferable should my father die. Although he never had any proof, Andrew Potter thought Lestrange might have arranged for my father's death, to permanently seal their agreement. There were papers among my father's things which inferred he was trying to get me out of the disastrous betrothal."

"At my father's funeral, Lestrange just stared at me, watching me like I was his prey. I felt so dirty and disgusting. As quickly as I could, I left the reception which followed the service, surrounded by my friends. That would turn out to be my last meeting with my betrothed." I took a deep breath, but refused to look at Harry.

"Back at school, we all were trying to come up with ways to save me from this abysmal fate. Your mum and dad were engaged and planning their wedding, but Lily, bless her, suggested your dad marry me instead, thus getting me out of my betrothal and saving me. After a couple of years, we could divorce and then your dad would marry your mum. I refused, however. I couldn't do it to them, they were so in love. Sirius and Remus offered as well, but for both of them, it would have made their lives more dangerous than they already were. There was a bounty out on Sirius, put up by his father, to bring him in. If he could be held still long enough to have the Dark Mark burned onto him, Black senior would give the prat who gave up Sirius one-hundred thousand Galleons. Nice father there, huh?" I looked to Harry who nodded, his expression full of sympathy and disgust.

"Remus was in an equally precarious position, simply because he was a werewolf. I couldn't let either of them risk themselves, I cared about them too much. So, we'd ruled out another marriage, which meant I would need to run away and hide. We just needed to figure out where. Your Dad and grandfather came up with the plan, letting no one outside of the three of us know where I was.

"The day before Imbolic, James and I went to Gringotts and I withdrew my dowry from the bank, forging my mother's signature and your dad _Confundus Charming_ the teller. It was my money in a way. It had been intended to secure a future for me. How my father had wanted to do it wasn't the future I could see myself living or surviving. The majority of the funds were used to purchase a small, semi-detached house for myself, although under the name of Perri Gwynn. Your grandfather had arranged all new documentation for me under my new name.

"Your family also gave the additional funds needed to open up the Muggle brewery, which would be run by Perri Gwynn. The original name for the brewery was _North London Brewing_, which while quite generic gave nothing way about who really owned it. Even following the paper trail would simply lead you to an investment group and Andrew Potter, the barrister in charge. We made a big deal of getting onto the Hogwarts Express together, lots of pictures and the like. When we arrived to the compartment, we pulled the shades I said my goodbyes and donned your father's Invisibility Cloak. I left the train before it even began the trip back to London. Instead, I Apparated to my home and waited for your father to arrive and pick up his cloak. He was the only one who knew where my house was. I gave up the life of a MacPhearson girl and became Perri Gwynn, working girl."

"But, when you didn't arrive in London, didn't people go looking for you?"

"They did," I answered while nodding. "The Aurors engaged in an all out search. My mother was beside herself and Lestrange was livid. There was no way to track me, however. I was of age, so the magical trace on me had been lifted nearly a year before. I'd put my wand away, locking it in a Muggle fire safe, and never did magic. I walked to work, insisted everyone use my new name. After six months of no sign of me anywhere, and no evidence I'd left the country, they stopped looking for me."

"But I don't understand, how did you go from being hidden to having his son?" Harry impatiently asked. I knew I hadn't dealt with Connor's lineage, but he needed to know the truth about everything else first.

"The only person who knew where I was at first was your dad. James was my lifeline for wizarding information. I was able to sneak to your Mum and Dad's wedding. You've seen pictures of it, right?" I asked and Harry nodded. "It was at your Mum's family church. I hid in the balcony, right next to the organ. I should have been standing up with her, but I couldn't be seen. I don't doubt Lestrange would have ruined their day if he found out I was there. After they were married, your dad told your mum where I was. Now there were three, outside of me, who knew who Perri really was.

"Your grandparents died only months after the wedding. It was such a suspicious accident, I always wondered if Lestrange had gone after them because of the help your grandfather gave me," I muttered sadly.

"Wait, you think my grandparents were murdered, too?"

"Harry, their house exploded in such an odd way," I explained. "There's no way your grandmother would have been careless in her potions making. She was meticulous in her work. I, and many other people who knew them, never believed it was a careless mistake."

"You think Lestrange murdered them? Because they helped you?"

"Harry, Lestrange wasn't the only enemy your grandfather had. He vehemently opposed Voldemort and his followers. He supported rights for other creatures and was tireless in his attempts to get the werewolf restrictions repealed. There were many who would have wished to quiet him."

"I still don't understand about Connor. He's only what, two years old?"

"He's not quite two yet. His birthday is December 28."

"How? Were you in love with him? Did anyone else know, like my Mum?" I could hear the irritation creeping back into Harry's voice.

"Harry, there are many ways to get pregnant. We live in a modern world, remember?"

"Yeah, but...I just don't..."

"I have more to tell you, I just wanted you to understand how things arrived to this point. It was so lonely at first. I didn't have Muggle friends and I was cut off from my Wizarding ones, at least at first. We gradually began telling the others. I missed Eliza and Sibéal, so they were the first."

"I still don't understand, how did you end up pregnant and why is Connor so young?"

"You know, when I explained I stayed away from boys while in school because I didn't want to fall in love with someone I couldn't spend my life with?"

"Yeah," he said hesitantly.

"Well, it didn't exactly work the way I'd planned. I did fall in love, and the boy fell right back. Somewhere in all that time, we figured out the commitments we'd made and the responsibilities we had were completely over-ridden by what we felt for one another," I hesitantly explained. Harry stood up, anger rolling off him in powerful waves which crashed against me, taking my breath away.

"Just tell me, did my Dad have an affair with you?"


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: The song for this chapter is by Sarah MacLachlan. Thanks for reading and reviewing, MNF**

**Chapter 16:**

**Good Enough**

**Harry POV:**

I was beyond upset. That boy looked exactly like me; dark hair, slightly wild and sticking up everywhere; green eyes, lopsided smile. How could Seph have done this to me, to my Mum? They were supposed to be friends! Were any of my parents' friends faithful or did they all betray them in some way? I was staring at Seph, her mouth hanging open, face in shock, like she couldn't believe I'd figured her secret out. The room was silent, save the happy sounds slipping from under the kitchen door of Connor baking with Andromeda, betraying the devastation I was feeling.

A strange sound broke through my dejection, making it all seem even more surreal. I couldn't place the sound, but I drew my wand and turned to look at Seph. She had her hand over her mouth, her eyes crinkled and her brow bent toward the middle. She was laughing. Seph was laughing at me.

"Why are you laughing? I don't see anything funny about this!" I screamed.

"Oh, Harry, I'm not laughing at you," she eked out between her guffaws. "It's just such a ..." a fresh round of laughter interrupted her. I lowered my wand, though not stowing it away. "Harry, Connor is two. Do you really think I was pregnant for fifteen years?"

"Well," I mumbled, realizing I hadn't really thought about that part. "You did say we live in a modern world when I asked about getting pregnant."

"I did," she said while sitting back in her seat, her laughter dying down. "All I meant was that I wasn't young when I got pregnant. I was thirty-six when Connor was conceived, thirty-seven when he was born. I know we've got a longer period of fertility than Muggles, but age is age. Also, sweetheart, wizards gestate the same nine months as Muggles. We're all humans after all." I closed my eyes and stopped to consider what she'd said. Before I could comment, Seph continued speaking. I slumped back in my seat, pondering how my thinking had gotten so barmy. Hermione had always told me I jumped to conclusions too quickly. Perhaps I'd done that here.

"Harry, Connor's father is Sirius. I got pregnant only weeks before he fell through the veil. He never even knew I was going to have his child. I did love your Dad, but like a brother. Just thinking about kissing him makes my insides turn over in disgust."

"But Connor, he looks so much like me," I mumbled. I felt like a fool. How could I have gotten something like that so wrong?

"Well, I don't know if you noticed, but your Dad and Sirius shared more than a passing similarity. Honestly, for two people who weren't closely related, they could have passed as brothers. As for your Mum and me, we're both gingers. Her eyes were darker than mine, but green eyes are dominant in my family. It's just dumb luck that you and Connor look so much alike."

"Seph, I'm so sorry -"

"Stop, Harry. I know you are. Honestly, if I thought my Dad had cheated on my Mum I would have been livid and not thinking too straight myself. I'm going to guess you don't know what the name Connor means?"

"Haven't a clue," I answered honestly. Seph got a wide smile before she answered me.

"It means Dog Lover," she explained. "It was the best I could do for a name without alerting the Black family that Sirius had borne an heir. At the time, the only one I could trust was Andromeda. The rest would have happily murdered my child and me."

"Why?"

"Money, plain and simple. If Sirius has an heir, the majority of the fortune would remain with the child, instead of being split between whoever was still alive. I had no idea he'd made you his heir, which was brilliant thinking on his part. You were far too high profile for any of the four remaining Blacks to come after. Connor and I had the added issue of the Lestrange boys still being alive, and believing I had wronged their father. To have born a blood-traitor's son would have made me even more of a wretch in their eyes. I would have shamed the Lestrange name more than I had in running away from my betrothal. I don't doubt public flogging and drawing and quartering would have been their choice of punishments." I thought about what she said. It made everything sound so Medieval, then another thought struck me.

"Wait, Connor should rightfully have everything of Sirius's-"

"No, please Harry, keep it, he wanted YOU to have it. I have more than enough for Connor and me. Sirius loved you, deeply. He wished he could have done better by you," she told me kindly.

"Four Blacks?" I pondered, not realizing I said it aloud.

"Yes, you probably were only aware of Narcissa and Bellatrix having Black blood, but Cassiopeia Couch and Adephus Prewett could have laid claim to the family fortune. I didn't include Andi and Dora in that number, since they were the only sane members of the family. I also know Sirius had funnelled large amounts of money from the family vault into the Tonks family's, and they were cared for in his will." All I could do is shake my head at Seph. Sirius really did come from one bloody barmy bunch. "Connor does have Sirius's share of the breweries, however." I understood, and it was more than fair that he have it, since I have both Mum and Dad's.

"So, you were in love with Sirius?"

Seph nodded. "Probably my entire life, although neither of us realized it until the end of our seventh year, when everything went insane with my betrothal," she explained, a sort of dreamy look on her face. "Growing up we were constantly at each other, like oil and water, we simply did not mix well. He was the very opposite of who I was. Where I was bound by duty, he flaunted his disregard for it. I was studious, Sirius could have cared less about the NEWTs he got. I would have been happy to blend into the stonework of the castle, Sirius ruled it with a jester's tongue. When we learned about my betrothal, he proposed but I was certain it was a reflexive response, like your Dad and Remus. Those last few months at school, he pursued me with such a dogged enthusiasm I wasn't sure he was working on his revisions at all. Beer and wooing me was all that was on his mind."

"Sounds like Sirius," I agreed. "It seemed like when he got something in his head it was hard to get him to give it up."

"How true," she sighed.

"But, eventually you understood that he loved you, and the proposal wasn't just for a way out of the betrothal. Why didn't you marry him?"

Seph covered her face with her hands and slumped forward, her elbows resting on her knees. "I knew the only place I could hide would be in the Muggle world. Sirius wouldn't have been able to survive living as a Muggle; magic was too much a part of who he was. The first time I kissed him was on the train, just before I disappeared. I had intended it to be our last kiss as well. I made your father promise not to tell Sirius where I was hiding when he retrieved his Invisibility Cloak that day. I wanted Sirius to have a good life. I didn't think that was possible with me."

"You sound a lot like me," I commented, thinking about how alike we were in the ways we treated those we love. "Before I went on the hunt for Voldemort, I broke up with Ginny, hoping it would keep her safe."

"I see that worked out as you planned," Seph quipped back.

"About as well as it did for you." We both laughed.

"I held firm for about six months. It was finally your Mum who convinced me to see him. He was apparently being such a pain in the arse to your parents I submitted to James sharing my secret. They didn't deserve to be hounded to death by Padfoot," she explained. I laughed at her unintentional pun, since it took her a moment of my laughing for her to realize what she'd said.

"We were happy in those years we had. We couldn't marry, not unless we were both willing to use false identities, lest we risk my being found by the Lestrange's. It was fine with Sirius, he didn't exactly have the highest opinion of the institution. His parents were both -"

"Raving lunatics," I interjected. "I've heard the stories, and his mother's damned portrait is still stuck on the wall. I can't figure out how to get her off."

"She was one crafty bitch."

"He had his own flat, but he was rarely there," she explained. "Remus shared it with him, and he'd enchanted a set of lamps to let him know if he was needed back at the flat if he was with me. Remus could turn the one on at their flat, and it would simultaneously make the one at my home turn on. It was especially important when the Aurors came to visit, asking if either had any word from me. We also used it as a way to be alerted if there was Order work which needed attending to."

"Couldn't you have used a mirror?"

"You know about those?" she asked and I nodded in the affirmative. "Too risky, something that small could fall into the wrong hands and I would have been outed."

I nodded, beginning to understand just how much danger followed her daily.

"When you were born, Sirius was instantly enamoured with you. I couldn't see you anywhere near as often as I wanted to, it was too risky. Your Mum brought you over occasionally, but it wasn't nearly enough. Every time Sirius would get home after seeing you, he'd dump his memories of the visit into my Pensive and I'd get to live the visit, if only vicariously.

"Then the world fell apart. It took a few days for Remus, Eliza, Sibéal and me to get our heads around what exactly had happened and slide out from under the oppressive weight of our grief. While I wasn't happy with your being with your Aunt and Uncle, my first priority was getting Sirius out of Azkaban."

"Why didn't you?"

"Long story short, I would have had to come out of hiding, which my friends refused to let me do. Lestrange had gone mad at this point, his sons and daughter-in-law had just sent Alice and Frank to the mental ward at St. Mungo's. None of them were willing to let me sacrifice myself, least of all Sirius. Sibéal and Eliza did what they could, but they were blocked everywhere and by everyone. The Hit Squad was convinced they had the right person and no one believed James would have ever made Peter the Secret-Keeper. Add into it the argument between Sirius and Remus at the last Order meeting… it was an insurmountable task to free him."

"What were Remus and Sirius arguing about?"

"Me," she answered quietly. "Within a year of going into hiding, I had been approached by the Order about getting information to operatives on the continent. I often went on buying trips for the brewery, and had connections in nearly every country. About a month before your parents were killed, some very sensitive information ended up in the Death Eaters' hands. Because of it, Greyback was able to attack the children of one of our allies. Greyback was always a touchy subject for Remus, and he suggested that perhaps I wasn't as careful with the information as I could have been. Sirius, of course, jumped to my defence. Their anger and frustration got the better of them, and it quickly spiralled into a heated argument. They didn't speak with each other again. When Sirius was sent to Azkaban, Remus felt horrible about their arguing, knowing it wasn't Sirius who betrayed James and Lily."

"But, I don't understand; if there were so many of you who knew the truth, why was he left there for twelve years?" My godfather's imprisonment made less and less sense to me.

"I wish I could explain it to you, but I don't fully understand either. Even Peter's supposed death never made sense. The Killing Curse leaves a body behind. A strong Blasting Curse makes things fly apart, but doesn't destroy mass, only breaks it apart; more than Peter's finger should have been left. The reasoning for his continued imprisonment was Sirius was creative in his spell creation. He must have made a new hex which successfully destroyed all of Peter, except for that damned finger. Sibéal's husband, Fergus Figg, worked daily to free him for three years. Someone blocked every success we had. Once we'd exhausted every possible way to release him, we took to caring for him the best we could."

"Do you know who was blocking you?" I had to know. Seph was too smart not to have discovered who really wanted Sirius incarcerated.

"I have my suspicions, but that's another story, for another day," she resolutely explained.

"So, when Sirius escaped, did he come to you?" Seph nodded.

"He was so worried about you. When he realized just how close Peter was to you, he needed to protect you. He spent his time up at the castle, out of sight. Thankfully, Sirius knew the ins and outs of Hogwarts better than anyone, even Remus. He was certain Remus had heard him a few times, and was worried he'd be discovered. We weren't positive how he'd react to Sirius's freedom. The first day Remus saw Ron's rat, however, he knew why Sirius had broken out of Azkaban. He confronted me, and I confirmed Sirius was in contact with me. It was late December when all this occurred. If I remember correctly, you started learning the Patronus Charm just after the first of the year?"

"Yes, that's right," I confirmed. Remus already knew Sirius was free and Peter was in the castle when he started teaching me. "That's why he went over so many Defensive spells with me that spring."

"They were working together to make sure you were safe. Sirius was so insistent that he protect you, he went weeks without bathing and wouldn't even let me give him new clothes. He said the stench from Azkaban masked his scent, so Remus or Peter wouldn't smell him. Padfoot had a rather unique odour."

"Why didn't Remus just go to Dumbledore and tell him who Scabbers was? They could have caught him, changed him over and made him tell the truth about my parents' murders. Sirius could have been out in the open, and the whole bloody mess which led to his death could have been avoided." Words were tumbling out of me, and I was agitated by the number of missed opportunities. I was surprised to see Seph crying.

"Harry, we did go to Dumbledore. I even snuck into the castle one night and Remus, Eliza, Sibéal, Fergus and I confronted the headmaster. He said it wasn't time yet, and that we couldn't take Peter into custody just yet. Things had to play out in a specific way. That was the last time I spoke with Albus Dumbledore. He'd blocked me for the final time." Tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but there was a rigidity and coldness to her voice when she spoke about Dumbledore which was unexpected.

"Seph, what do you mean? Why are you so upset?" I reached across the coffee table and took her hand.

"Harry, when your family went into hiding, your Mum and Dad made me promise if anything ever happened to them, that Sirius and I would take you in. You had your own room at our little house, and a few days after their deaths I came to collect you. I was stopped from taking you. For years I tried to get you away from the Dursley's, but every time I went to get you, he showed up and prevented it." Seph was weeping now, her body shaking. "I'm so sorry, Harry, I really did try." I wanted to know who stopped her, and I had a feeling I knew who it was, I just didn't really want to hear her say the words.

"Who stopped you, Seph?"

"Dumbledore." I withdrew my hand from hers and fell back into the soft couch. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: This is last of the "conversation" chapters. I swear, we're going to get back to the action and the brewery and Ginny in the next chapter. The song is by "Jars of Clay" and I think it accurately portrays Harry's emotions as he listens to what Dumbledore has done in the lives of his parents and their close friends. A huge thanks to everyone who nominated and voted for this story over "Sink Into Your Eyes (SIYE)", it won best New Story in the July/August Silver Trinkets. I'm so thrilled. I need to develop some more beers for this story. If you've got a favorite style, please let me know; or if you've got a good name, I'd love to hear that too. The beer that's mentioned in this chapter, it is my favorite style of beer. The thing with Lambic beer, you need to not think about how it's brewed while drinking it. Lambic beer uses naturally occurring yeast that drifts in and settles into the vats of beer. Needless to say, other things float in as well and they're skimmed off. There aren't many which are made in the US (although Sam Adams usually makes a great on in their holiday sampler) and it's a beer which similar to drinking a good wine. And yes, my favorite really is the Raspberry/Chocolate Lambic. Had one imported bottle of it years ago (as it costs as much as a bottle of wine) and the taste has remained with me. **

**I've had several of you ask for a health update. What I can tell you is I have an auto-immune disorder, which has triggered several strange reactions within my body. At the moment walking is very hard and painful, but we're hopeful we can get it under control. Thankfully my hands have not been affected, and I'm writing daily. ****I appreciate everyone's words of concern and comfort regarding my health.** This story should be over by mid-October, since I will be starting to write the second novel in the trilogy of my published set of books. Sales have been slow, but at least my book is out there. 

**Okay, I don't generally write novel length Author's Notes, so just two more things. Thanks to my beta, Arnel, for her constant support. She rocks. MNF**

**Chapter 17:**

**Silence**

**Harry POV:**

My head was spinning and I honestly felt as if I would be sick all over the floor. I closed my eyes and flung my head back against the back of my chair. I heard a rustling and then a creek followed by some footsteps and something cool being placed against my head. I lifted my hand and my fingers grazed a wet flannel.

"I brought you a potion as well," Seph told me quietly. "Although, if you'd rather a shot of Firewhiskey, that can be arranged." My top lip crept up on one side at her suggestion.

"No, but thanks," I mumbled. "Sober is probably better."

"I don't have to explain this to you now, we can wait."

I grunted at her before opening my eyes to look at hers as she stood over me. "It's like ripping a bandage off when you've got a cut, it's better to get it all off at once, rather than elongating the pain by pulling slowly."

Her face told me she understood. "What do you want to know first?"

"Tell me about Dumbledore," I hesitantly requested. I heard her sigh and then move back to the sofa across from me. I laid my head back down on the back of the chair.

"There's no good way to start this." Her voice was weak and pained. "Dumbledore had said something to James that convinced him he needed to hide you and your Mum. None of us knew what it was at the time, but your dad was terrified, and nothing scared James."

"It was the prophecy," I stated.

"I learned about it in the second war. He reluctantly told Sirius and Remus, they told Seph, Fergus, Eliza and me. When it happened, James had us all meet at my house, and all he would say was that your family needed to go into hiding because Voldemort wanted the three of you. We didn't know he wanted you dead, Harry. We thought it was about your Dad."

"What do you mean?" My head was still hurting and my gut continued to roll. I didn't even look up when I asked her.

"The Death Eaters wanted to recruit James and Sirius something fierce. When Regulus joined, they eased up on Sirius, but they hounded your father. To have brought a Potter into their circle would have been quite a coup, and the Ministry would have been theirs for the taking."

I mustered enough strength to look up to ask my question. "Why?"

"Harry, the Potter family has always been a pillar of our society. Where the Potters went, others followed. If Voldemort had gotten James' support, there would have been no stopping him. Mind you, it's not like your father would have ever turned his back on justice and equality, but oh, he tried. Your parents were in at least one duel a week. Our friends made sure someone was with them when they were out in society, just to give them an extra hand if they were to come upon one of Voldemort's followers. Your Dad dueled Voldemort himself at least twice that I remember." Thinking about what it must have been like for them frightened me now.

"After the seven of us discussed it, we decided to have your family move into my house with Sirius and me. I'd been in hiding for three years at that point, and never once had my security been breached. We had the room, and while it would have been hard for your parents not to use magic, at least they'd be safe. We were even going to charm the house your Mum and Dad were using to make it appear like they were still living there. The plan fell apart, however, when James went to ask for a leave from his job at the Ministry. Somehow, Dumbledore convinced him to use the old Potter house in Godric's Hollow. None of us ever learned how he persuaded James to change the plan, but it was a fatal error." I heard Seph shudder as she raked a shallow breath in. I wasn't sure if it was knowing what I did now or not, but my parents' friends sounded like they had a better plan than the one they used. I didn't want to think about how my life would have changed if my parents had relied on their close friends, rather than trust Dumbledore.

"After that horrible Halloween night, the others set to free Sirius. My job was to get you. I had promised your mum and dad I'd take care of you. At first I went to Dumbledore, at great risk to myself, and showed him the parchment your parents had drawn up. He told me that while he understood it was their wish to have you live with me, you needed to remain with your Aunt. He swore to me it was for the best."

"There was a blood protection on me if I lived with her," I explained. Seph made a disgusted sound and I sat up to look at her.

"I don't give a rat's arse if there was an Unbreakable Vow on you there, the way they treated you..." she was seething. "I'd go to visit Mrs. Figg and we'd watch you, and I hated the way you were ignored as a toddler and then put to work as a child. I begged Dumbledore, pleaded with him to let me take you and love you. I'm so sorry I didn't fight harder. I honestly think that's why he let Sirius rot in that cell, he would have found a way to take you and have us raise you."

I leaned over toward her, aghast at what she'd just said. "You think Dumbledore left Sirius in Azkaban so he couldn't raise me?"

"Harry, my friends and I went over and over this, and the only reason that ever made any sense to us was that your godfather would have taken you, and Dumbledore might have never known where you were. We would have gone anywhere to ensure you were safe. There was no good reason to leave Sirius in prison beyond this. He knew he wasn't guilty, he knew there were upright and honest witches who would have sworn testimony in his favor, he knew who the true Secret-Keeper was. He manipulated us all, and Sirius paid the price."

"I don't want to believe you," I whispered. I wasn't sure I could process another disclosure about Dumbledore's manipulative ways.

"I'm sure you don't," Seph told me gently. "We all wanted to believe he was altruistic and above reproach. Maybe he was too idealistic and expected the same from everyone else? He just expected so much from us, and didn't think any sacrifice was too much to ask." She sounded so defeated, but I agreed with her. Hell, he'd expected me to let myself be killed for the greater good... and I'd gone along with it. I knew if I heard one more awful thing I'd be ill. I needed the subject to change, or I needed to run away. I felt too weak to make myself leave, so I asked her about something happier.

"Tell me about Sirius after he escaped Azkaban. Were you happy?"

"We were," she said, her voice sounding lighter. "He was worried about you. What it took for him to escape... don't ever doubt the depth of his love you, Harry."

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, he was able to turn himself into Padfoot to escape, without the use of a wand. Animagus transformations are highly complicated and very difficult magic. That he did it wandlessly; only a powerful emotion could have given him enough strength to do that," she explained. "It was something he never could accomplish just for me."

I sat up straight and looked at her. "I'm sure he loved you and he wanted to be with you."

"I know he did, I never doubted that. What I'm saying is that his feelings for you were that much more powerful."

"Did he spend time with you, after we released him from Flitwick's office at Hogwarts? I never knew where he spent that year."

"He did," she confirmed. "His encounter with Peter, the Dementor attack, that night took its toll on him, physically. He needed some time to recover. He hid the hippogriff on an old Black family property in the North Country, and then called me to come get him. I didn't even know he knew how to use a pay phone. He wasn't very good with Muggle technology." We both laughed at the idea of him attempting to figure out a telephone box.

"Your fourth year, when the mess with the Tri-Wizard Tournament was going on, he drove Minerva crazy with his requests for information," she continued. "He didn't like not knowing if you were okay, and wanted to return to Scotland so much sooner than he did. It was different before your name came out of the Goblet, we did some traveling, and he worked at the Muggle brewery some, just to pass the time. Even though he was a wanted man in the wizarding world, we were quite free living as we did. We went out places, on dates, like a normal couple. We considered getting married, finally, even if it was under false names."

"Why didn't you?"

"We couldn't figure out a good reason to. We were happy and living a very contented life, at least until the night Voldemort came back, and Dumbledore reformed the Order. Suddenly, our lives weren't our own again, and we were asked to make sacrifices."

"I know Sirius wasn't happy after that," I told her quietly. "Remus told me he hated being cooped up in Grimmauld Place." Seph laughed at this. "What?"

"He was no more cooped up in that house than anyone else was. He was surly from arguing with Dumbledore and Molly Weasley about your care. He and I, along with our friends, thought you needed to be told the whole truth. Keeping his damned secrets got your parents killed, none of us wanted to see the same thing happen to you. Molly, bless her heart, didn't want you to know so you'd remain innocent and unaware."

"I was neither of those things," I said with a woeful grunt.

"Oh, I know. When he was ... gone ... I was surprised how deeply Molly grieved. In fact, if it wasn't for her kindness and friendship, I might have died of a broken heart that summer. It was Molly's understanding, and Connor growing inside me which kept me alive."

"Did you mean to have Connor, or did he just er…" I wasn't sure how to ask this.

"No, although Sirius would have been ecstatic about having a baby. We'd discussed it, knowing that neither of us was getting any younger, but war isn't exactly the best time to have a child. I got pregnant entirely by accident. Apparently, Muggle birth control, wizarding antibiotics and creating a new brew and over sampling it is the perfect recipe for ending up with a bun in the oven." I looked at her puzzled and she giggled before continuing.

"I had been on the Muggle 'pill'," she used finger quotation marks, "for years, but that spring I ended up with a horrible head cold which turned into pneumonia. I was at Grimmauld Place to pick up some documents I was to take to Germany while I was on a buying trip, and Molly heard my hacking cough. She insisted she brew me a potion to get rid of the illness. Apparently, it rendered my pills useless. At the same time, Sirius had created a new beer, in honor of me. I thanked him for his kindness, repeatedly. Poof, nine months later, Connor arrived. It was only weeks before ..." she trailed off. I wasn't sure what to say. He'd died because he came to save me. I couldn't imagine she didn't lay some blame on me.

"He never should have gone that night," she spoke through her tears. "I begged him to stay back with me, to let the others go and get you. Walking into the Ministry was a ridiculous idea, but he insisted. I was so angry at him when I found out I was having Connor. I wanted him to be here to see his child, but he had to be so damned brave." She was crying and angry all at once. "Harry, I don't blame you," she said forcefully, as if she'd heard my earlier thoughts. "I just wish ..." she wiped her face with her hands and squared her shoulders. She didn't need to tell me she was done talking.

"Well, I can't wallow in what never was, now can I? How about you and I go see how they're doing in the kitchen with those biscuits? We can discuss this more again if you'd like, but I need a respite." She stood up and offered me her hand.

"I could use one, too," I told her, accepting her hand and standing. We started toward the kitchen door, but I had one last thing to ask. "What kind of beer did he make for you?"

"It was called Green Eyed Girl. It's a small batch lambic beer with hints of raspberry and chocolate. He said it was what I tasted like when he kissed me. We never brewed it for bottling, at least not commercially. It was something special we shared." She pushed the door open and Connor, covered in flour and goo, ran over to her. She lifted her son and kissed his forehead as he explained how he'd spent his time away from her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: This is probably the only time there will be two points of view and two songs for the chapter. Seph and Harry aren't together, but they're both recovering from their conversation. My beta has said it carries a heavy tissue warning. The first song is by Evanescence, the second by Midge Ure. This is the last chapter of what I'm calling the first arc of the story. The second arc will begin with the next chapter, and I expect the second part to be as long as the first. Again, thanks to my beta, Arnel, for her hard work, Stephanie for pre-reading and all of you for reading. MNF **

**Chapter 18:**

**My Immortal/Let It Go?**

**Early Saturday, November 1, 1998**

**Seph POV:**

I was alone in my room, fighting the darkness which was rapidly encroaching on me. I had been fine today, well not fine; the conversation with Harry was excruciating. We recovered from it, and within a few hours, he was smiling again. We all spent the day with Teddy and Andi, celebrating Halloween and explaining to all three of the boys about the true Celtic holiday of Samhain. We were both raised as good pureblood children, traditional holidays were the norm. Our ancient magical heritage felt as if it were all but forgotten now.

I held the memories at bay today while others were around me, but talking about those years I had him opened something within me which I could not close yet. I shut the door to my bedroom and lifted my wand to silence the space. I was fearful of what the night would bring. I hadn't had the nightmares in several years, and at least then Remus, Tonks, Sibéal and Fergus were here to soothe me. I would face my memories alone tonight.

The bedroom was now as dark as I felt. I only made my way to the bed out of muscle memory, and I peeled the clothing from my body as if I were preparing an onion, letting the unneeded layers gather in a heap upon the floor. The tears were already falling, I lacking the strength to even bat them away. I felt the wail building in my gut, moving its way up while pulling my insides into a bramble knot of thorny pain. In my lungs it sucked every last bit of air from me. It constricted my throat and made me feel as if I were drowning in the inky desolation of my room and despair. As it passed through my mouth, it dried my tissues, leaving me parched and rough.

When it finally broke free of me, it didn't even sound human. I did not sound human. For two years I had gotten up every day, moved through the steps of my life. I faked living until I remembered how I had before. On occasion, I had even been moderately happy—although most of those times came as a gift from my son. Our son. Today, though, today I'd let the monster out of its cage, and now it was threatening to consume me whole.

I lay there, unable to hold back the memories of not only the loss of the one man who had loved me for myself, but for the friends who had cared for me more than my family had. They were all gone now. I had been left alone. Everything flashed before my eyes: love, anger, laughter, tears, frustration, delight, success, failure, camaraderie and betrayal. I wept for them all in a way I hadn't in a long time.

Then the memories dwindled to just those of him. The feel of his hand on my skin. The flavor he'd leave behind after his tongue had invaded my mouth when we kissed. How his body felt nestled next to mine. Things I had forced myself to not think about for years cascaded over the broken dam in my memory, and they assailed me from all sides. The way, even when we were kids, he'd take my hand and thread his fingers through mine and swing them back and forth when we'd walk. How he'd wipe my tears with the pad of his thumb and then stroke his forefinger over my eyebrow, reminding me 'Irish eyes should always smile'. The first time we lain together and the nervous bumbling of the newness of it all. The passion that would fill later years, lovers well acquainted with their partner's body. The night I begged him to stay with me, and his telling me he needed to care for Harry. Remus returning to my house alone.

I was forced to relive my trip, two days later, to that stupid chamber. I stood on the dais, my hand on the archway, ready to propel myself in. I had nothing I wanted to keep me here. I'd dug out James' old work journals; I knew his theories on how it worked. I wished someone would come along and stun me so I could fall in without knowing what was happening too. Then I heard it. His voice. He promised me he loved me, and he always would. He begged me not to do it. He told me to wait, just a little longer. He swore he'd be right there when the time finally came for me to be with him.

I'll never understand what drew me away from the precipice that day. I was found hours later on the floor, my tears run dry and limp from exhaustion. It was my trip to St. Mungo's that evening which heralded the news of the coming of our boy.

The darkness was closing in on me now, again, and I was too weak to stop it. I closed my eyes and let it take me, hoping I'd find my love there.

**Sunday November 2, 1998**

**Ginny POV:**

"Harry, that's," I paused, I didn't have words to explain what he'd just told us. Ron had mirror called me yesterday, said he found Harry sitting in the dark when he arrived home last night, not speaking. All of us, Hermione, Luna, Neville and I immediately created a Portkey and came home. Harry hadn't said anything when I arrived. He instead took me into his arms and pulled me into our bedroom. I hadn't seen him weep in months; last night be bawled like a baby. This morning, after we'd eaten breakfast, he told us everything he'd learned yesterday. "Do you really think Seph is right?"

"I don't see why she wouldn't be," he answered. "Why would she lie?" I looked to Hermione, and I saw the agreement in her eyes.

"This is bloody mad," my brother interjected. "Dumbledore was a good man. I can't believe you're doubting him now."

"I don't know, Ron," Neville interjected. "He was a good man, and he did many good things; but when Harry explained this prophecy thing to me, and how it could have been me... I wondered why my parents hadn't been better protected. He let them keep on working, like there was nothing wrong. When I talked with Gran about it, she knew nothing about the prophecy. You've met my Gran. Do you really think anyone can keep a secret around her?" We all chuckled a little. Mrs. Longbottom was a formidable woman.

"So, you're saying Harry should tell people? Make people question their memories about him?" Hermione put her hand on Ron's sleeve because he was getting quite agitated at the conversation.

"I don't think so, Ron," Luna stated. "I think Harry's just pointing out the Professor was a very complicated man, who made some choices which were poor. It doesn't change who he was, or the good he's done, but it does make me wonder if he was hiding other things." We all looked at her.

"That was very well put, Luna," Hermione complimented her, sounding slightly surprised. While Luna was intelligent, we were never quite sure what she would say from one day to the next.

"Yes, well, the evening faeries visited me last night and cleared my head of the Wrackspurts."

"And, it's over..." Hermione whispered under her breath. I heard her since we she was only inches to my left. "What I can't imagine is how Seph is dealing with all this. She's lost so much."

"I think as long as she has Connor to worry about, she'll keep doing her best. He's a great little kid," Harry explained.

"I'm finding it hard to think about your godfather being a dad," Ron added. "He was as big of a troublemaker as we were, even though he was old. Drove my Mum nuts when we were all living here."

"Seph said your Mum was actually one of the ones who helped her get through his death," Harry added. "She mourned him rather a lot."

"Ron, Mum was just a little sweet on Sirius," I added.

"She'd never! She loves Dad! She wasn't sweet on anyone but Dad!" I threw a pillow from the couch over to hit him in the head. He was sitting on the floor at Hermione's feet.

"Of course she loves Dad, but honestly Sirius was a flirt. It's nice when a good looking man flirts with you. Every woman likes getting complimented," I explained. "It doesn't mean she'd do anything with him."

"Not every girl likes when she's flirted with. Hermione here, she only flirts with me, right babe?" He looked up at her. Hermione's cheeks turned pink and she swallowed thickly.

"Sure, Ron, whatever," she hastily added, making a fresh round of laughter dance around the sitting room.

"I guess I'm just having a hard time not thinking about what my life would have been like if Seph had been allowed to get me. I would have still lived as a Muggle, but I would have known the rest of my parents' friends. I think I would have been happy," Harry muttered and I leaned over and pulled his head to my shoulder. I knew this is what cut the deepest at him.

"You know you had to stay at the Dursley's, mate," Ron attempted to cheer him. "The whole blood protection thingy."

Harry shrugged and we were all silent.

"Harry, is there anything you can change now? Is there any way what she's told you can alter the future?" Neville questioned, and my lip curled up. I'd been thinking the same thing. We all were watching him, wondering what he was going to say. I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was worried he'd let himself be sucked into a vortex of depression and sadness. He wasn't exactly known for being able to find the bright side of situations.

"There really isn't," Harry finally answered. "As much as it hurts, no, I can't change the past. I do wonder if my dad had been here, with everything he knew about the portal, if he'd have been able to save Sirius though."

"Your Dad could hear the voices too?" Luna asked.

"My Dad could more than hear the voices, Luna. My Dad studied that thing, tried to discover how to pass between our world and the world on the other side. He has journal after journal filled with his findings. Seph gave them to me."

"Wow," Hermione mumbled.

"He was really intelligent and talented," he mumbled. It felt like a damp blanket had been stuck on all of us. Harry was pulling the room down with him. The silence was heavy and getting heavier by the second. I wanted to stop it.

"You know what I think we need?" I finally asked.

"What do you think we need, Gin?" Ron asked with an attitude. I was close to pulling my wand on him.

"I think we need to visit the brewery, pick up some samples, then come back and figure out what we like to eat with them!" This was one time where beer and junk food might just be what we all needed.

"Hannah wrote to me, and she said people are asking if the Tap Room is ever going to serve food. Maybe we could come up with some ideas of different things for it to serve?" Neville suggested.

"I know Seph wanted to do it eventually," Harry added as he sat up. "Maybe sooner would be better than later?"

"That's the spirit!" I enthusiastically urged. "How 'bout this: boys, you hit MMB, we'll check the kitchen and then go to the shops down the street and pick up some things. Meet back here in an hour?"

"Sounds perfect, Hermione. I really could use some chocolate."

"I feel like chips," Luna added. "Maybe with some raspberries." We all looked at her strangely. Chips and raspberries?

"Gin, just have them put things on my account," Harry told me. "Professional expenses, right?" I shook my head at him, but he lifted his lip and eyebrow up and I couldn't help but smile back.

We gathered our shoes and cloaks and headed out into the crisp autumn air. Just before the boys were to Apparate away, Harry grabbed me around the waist, pulled me to him and kissed me.

"What would I do without you?" he asked.

"You're never going to need to find out, Harry. I promise," I whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek. Harry sighed at the words and smiled. It was the best sight in the world.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: As much as my pre-reader, Stephanie, wanted it; this isn't the party the six friends had to lighten Harry's spirits in early November. We'll leave their debauchery to your imagination. This is, however, a party. We've moved ahead about six weeks in time, so it's late December. Thanks to Arnel, my amazing beta and to my hubby for help with the beer. I also want to thank all of you for reading and reviewing, they make me smile and do little happy dances in my seat. MNF P.S.: There are a hundreds of versions of this carol out there, just play your favorite. I've got 17 different ones in my Christmas music file.**

**Chapter 19:**

**Here we come a Wassailing**

**Harry POV:**

"This is why you don't give toddlers glitter," Seph laughed as Ginny and I were helping her clean up the Tap Room. Connor was currently completely engrossed in his jam sandwich while the rest of us were recovering from decorating the place for our Christmas Party tonight. We'd been making paper chains for the Christmas tree when Ginny had suggested making them more elaborate. Seph looked skeptical, I now knew why. We had glitter everywhere.

Everyone was home from school and was chipping in. Hermione and Ron were helping, picking up things from the caterer. Neville was out with Hannah securing a Christmas tree and Luna was sitting with Connor as he ate. She seemed oblivious to his smearing the strawberry jam on her blouse. I nudged Ginny and pointed over to the pair.

Sniggering, she responded, moving her hands in a weighing-like motion as she did. "Luna, an almost two year old, there's a certain similarity there. Don't get me wrong, I love her, but speaking with both of them sometimes leaves you scratching your head." I stopped and looked at her, as did Seph. There was a wisdom and truth to what she'd said.

"Harry, I've got to tell you, your circle of friends is really quite interesting. Definitely stranger than mine," Seph remarked.

"I don't know, Seph, you were friends with a rat," I teased back.

"Did I ever tell you about the Christmas your Dad almost stomped on him?" I shook my head, this sounded good. "Er, Christmas our sixth year. We wanted a tree for the guys' room in Gryffindor Tower, so we all went out to cut one down from somewhere on the grounds. It was snowing and cold and the guys had to change themselves over, leaving Remus to help all four of us not get stuck in the snow drifts. Anyway, we found the perfect tree out in the forest and after we cut it down your mum threw the Invisibility Cloak over it and your dad lifted it up in his antlers to carry it back. Sirius was acting like an idiot, jumping around in the snow and trying to get his head under our skirts and Peter was getting lost in the drifts. When the tree slipped down, your dad couldn't see and he stomped right onto Peter's tail. It was caught in the grooves of his hoof. We all thought it was pretty funny, but Peter didn't. He had giant hoof prints on his butt for the entire holiday."

There were a lot of things I could have said, but I decided laughter made more sense. Seph had a smile on her face, but her eyes were sad. After we talked on Halloween I noticed her eyes rarely crinkled in mirth. The only times she was really happy was when she was with Connor. I'd been spending more time with the two of them, as well as time with Teddy and Andromeda. Sometimes all five of us did things together. Ginny would go with us when she was around, as would the rest of my friends.

Seph waved her wand and the glitter gathered itself together from off the bar, streamed into the jar and it sealed itself. The Tap Room had taken on a definite festive feeling. Ginny and Luna had frozen over the glass of the front windows and drawn snowflakes in the frost. I'd had fun with some plain silver glass balls Seph had brought over; using _Engorgio_ to make them bigger and then suspending them in the air. I'd charmed the ceiling very dark blue, and it made the balls look like large stars floating in the sky. In a split second decision, I reached for the glitter jar, poured a handful out and waved my wand and sent it skyward. The tiny specks spread out, filling in many of the spaces between the baubles. Now, it really looked like a night sky.

Next to me, Ginny reached into the sack of items she and I had purchased on the way over. She grabbed something, waved her wand and it too flew to the top of the room. I smiled when I saw the Father Christmas in his sleigh, pulled by eight reindeer zoom around the reflective orbs. Connor cheered.

"Unca Hawwy, you made it pwetty! It Fader Chismis!" he cheered, accidentally spilling the small amount of milk left in his cup. Luna cleaned it up without even looking down at the mess, her wand just waving above the tabletop. Connor had taken to her easily, and she held his attention with her tall tales. I wasn't going to tell him I wasn't sure if they were true or not. He wouldn't turn two until next week, he probably didn't know the difference.

"Yes, it is, Connor. Do you think he's going to visit you?" I asked as I walked over to his table.

"Mummy say if I eat my veg and go to bed good, he come," Connor replied, eyes wide with excitement.

"Well, I'm certain your Mummy is right. She's a very good Mummy," Ginny said as she picked the child up, waved her wand over him to clean the goo from his face, shirt and hands and then sat down with the little boy on her lap.

"I know," Connor agreed with a serious look on his face. "I wucky to have Mummy. Eddie doesn't have his Mummy or Daddy." Connor looked down at his little hands before wiggling his fingers into Ginny's hand. "I miss my Daddy."

"I know, buddy. Remember what I told you?" I asked.

"He in heaven, watchin' me."

"That's right, sweetie," Ginny said with a kiss to his forehead. "What do you want Father Christmas to bring to you?"

"A bwack puppy dog!" The toddler cheered. My eyes met Seph's, she looked so sad at the idea. She gave me a shoulder shrug while exhaling. I didn't doubt the boy would get his wish, regardless of how much it might hurt his mum to see it every day. She pushed herself off the bar and walked over to the table.

"Okay, little man, you've finished your lunch, now it's time to nap. Whose office do you want to sleep in? Harry's or mine?" Seph asked. Ginny stood up, still holding Connor. She'd promised him this morning to put him down and then rub his back until he was asleep.

"Unca Hawwy's!"

"Of course," his mum said with a slight upcurl of her lip.

"I'll go with them," I said and she nodded in the affirmative.

"Give me kisses before you go, sweetheart," she requested and Ginny came close enough that Connor could lean over and kiss his Mum. I could feel her eyes follow us out.

Ginny changed his nappy, and snuggled down onto the couch with him and I sat on the other side of her, my arm draped along the back. As he fell asleep his head ended up in my lap, Ginny leaning into my shoulder as she rubbed soft circles on his back.

"You know, I found a picture of my mum and dad and me in a very similar position. My mum looked so happy and my dad was content. It's one of my favorite pictures of us," I told her quietly. "Do you think it will ever be us, settling our own little boy down for his nap, all happy and content?"

"It sure as hell better be, Harry," Ginny adamantly replied.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, I want to be Mrs. Harry Potter and give you lots of little Potters. We're going to fill our house up with little boys who have dark hair and green eyes," she said sweetly.

"That's fine, as long as we have little girls with your red hair and deep brown eyes," I answered before I kissed her. We stayed there, Connor sleeping on our laps, snogging for a good long while.

The staff party that night was great. All of our magical brewery staff was here as well as their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives and children. Ginny and I had invited her whole family, along with a few select friends. Professor McGonagall was here, and she made Ginny promise to stop her at two beers. Apparently she was quite hung-over the day after the Tap Room opening. Ginny was over at the table with the professor and her parents, an excited Connor sitting on her lap telling them a tale. I wanted to know what he was saying. Seph had the bar covered so I ambled over to their corner table, putting my hands on her shoulders.

"... den Unca Hawwy made the gwitter fwy up to the cewing and stay dere. Den G'nny make Fader Crismis go up too. It amazin'." His little hands were moving up in down to make his point, and everyone was working hard to hold their laughter in. "I be gweat wizard wike my Daddy and Unca Harry someday."

"I'm sure you will, Connor," Mrs. Weasley responded. She looked like what he had to say was the most important thing in the world.

"When you're old enough, I'll give you a special map your daddy and my daddy and Teddy's daddy made together when they were at school," I promised him. Connor turned around quickly, not realizing I was there. His face exploded in a smile and he lifted his arms up so I could hold him. I knew Ginny enjoyed cuddling with him and I hated to take him from her arms. I lifted him and put him on my shoulders.

"I twouch the sky Unca Hawwy!"

"Just don't catch Father Christmas, because then he might not make it to your house!"

"Okay, Unca Hawwy, I be good."

"I know you will, buddy."

I walked around the bar, Connor on my shoulders, greeting people and introducing Connor to those who didn't know him. I was proud when he told people I was his 'unca'. I felt him start to get heavy and lean down more on my head, so I went back to the Weasleys and had Mr. Weasley lift him down from my shoulders.

"I think this big guy might be getting sleepy," I told him. "Can he stay with you while I ask Seph if she wants to take him home?"

"Oh, I suppose you can force me to snuggle with him for a little while," Mrs. Weasley mockingly replied. As if it would ever be a chore for her to take care of a little one. I left a drowsy Connor in her lap, his head on her chest and a happy smile on her face. I was glad to see it, the approaching holidays had been hard for her, knowing one of her boys wouldn't be at the table nor would his presents be under the tree.

As I approached the bar, I was surprised to see Charlie chatting up Seph. He'd just returned from Romania to spend the holidays with his family. I stood close enough to let Seph know I needed her without stepping into their conversation. I could however, hear what was being said.

"I understand, if you can't get someone to watch Connor, I just thought it would be fun," Charlie said. This perplexed me.

"No, I always have someone to be with him. I have a live-in nanny, since my hours can be quite long. My family's house-elf could watch him as well, I just...Charlie, I'm...well...my age doesn't bother you?" I couldn't believe my ears. I think Charlie Weasley had just asked Seph MacPhearson on a date. I was torn as to whether I should go tell Ginny or stay here. Charlie laughed at her question.

"It's not like you're that old, Seph. Look, I have to go to this party on New Year's for the Ministry's Magical Creatures Department. I'd like to have someone to escort other than my Auntie Muriel," he explained. "You're very pretty, Seph. You're smart and you've proven you can dance by the way you move behind the bar. Please, I promise to be a complete gentleman. I'll even shave and take my dragon talon earring out." Now it was Seph's turn to laugh.

"Well, when you put it that way," she replied, obviously warming to the idea by the congenial tone, which had replaced her skeptical one from earlier. "Yes, Charlie, I'd love to accompany you."

"Excellent, I'll fire call you to make final arrangements after Christmas," he promised and I caught Seph nodding out the corner of my eye.

"Harry, I didn't see you there," Seph said, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "Do you need something?"

"Connor's getting sleepy, he's over with Ginny and her mum. I wasn't sure what you wanted to do with him," I explained.

"I'll go get him, take him home to Elizabeth and then be right back, okay?"

"Sure, I'll cover the bar," I promised, opening the cut in the middle of the bar to let me behind while she stepped out. When she was out of ear shot, Charlie slid his mug toward me.

"Refill it with that Yule brew of yours," he asked.

"The _Yuletide Spirit_," I corrected as I took his glass and poured him another. "We probably should have brewed more, but we didn't know how it would go over. We're going to run out before the end of the year."

"It's good," he told me as I slid the beer toward him. "Strong and dark. Put hair on your chest." I sniggered at him.

"No, it doesn't, but I could probably charm it to do so. It's strong because it's an Eisboch," I explained. "We put it in vats outside, let it partially freeze and skim off the ice before bottling it." Charlie took a long sip and then licked his lips.

"Well, it's good however strangely it might have been made. You've really taken to this stuff, haven't you, Harry?"

"Yeah," I answered. "It makes me feel closer to my parents. I've wanted that my whole life. The recipe for this beer came from my father's journals."

"You gonna stay with it, even once Gin is done with school? I know you talked about becoming an Auror at one point." I had to think about how to answer this. Ginny and I hadn't discussed it at all.

"I don't know," I honestly replied. "Right now though, I'm really having fun." Charlie nodded and he then looked around the bar. Seph now had an almost asleep Connor in her arms and was headed out toward the lobby. I assumed she'd Floo home with him. "Hey, I heard you and Seph talking. I didn't mean to listen, but I had to get her attention."

"I see," he said with a joyful tone. I liked Charlie, not much got to him. "You think she's too old for me?"

"Oh, don't ask me questions like that. Until your sister, I had a rather abysmal love life. Do what you want. Just…" I wasn't sure how to word this. "Seph's been hurt badly in the past. Be careful with her, okay?" Charlie looked me over, smiled and nodded.

"You're a good man, Harry Potter. I'm glad you're in love with my sister. I can tell you treat her well," he said before he turned and walked away. His comment made me feel good. I couldn't wait to tell Ginny about all of it later. I wondered what she'd think about her brother and Seph.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: This chapter is all romantic fluff and is dedicated to my friend, Collinda, for her unabashed belief in true love. The song for the chapter is by Linda Eder, and I wrote this event as I did because I've wanted to do something with this song for years. Thanks to Stephanie, my pre-reader and Arnel, my amazing beta for their hard work. Thanks to all of you who are reading as well. MNF**

**Chapter 20:**

"**The Bells of St. Paul"**

**Ginny POV:**

"Harry, what in the name of Merlin's baggy y-fronts are we doing out here?" Harry had insisted on bringing us out to the square in front of St. Paul's. It was the afternoon of Christmas Day. We were hosting my entire family, Hermione's family, Andromeda and Teddy and Seph and Connor tonight for dinner. I left Hermione and Kreacher in the kitchen, which was just bizarre to watch. They sort of worked around each other without acknowledging each other. I didn't think any harm would come to either of them, but I did need to get back to help with the meal. "It's cold." I reached behind me, feeling the handle of my wand in my pocket and silently putting a warming charm on myself. I'd become used to the pleasant weather in Southern France. The chilly dampness of London was difficult to get used to.

"Gin, I'm trying to give you the rest of your Christmas present," Harry patiently answered.

"Harry, you've given me enough already. The riding jacket and boots are amazing, but I love the bracelet," I told him as my hand instinctively went to the rune-covered gold bracelet on my right wrist. "You've spent too much on me already."

"Gin, honey, it's just galleons. Anyway, this is something I didn't have to buy," he explained and I relented. "Come on, let's go sit down. I have a story to tell you." We walked the short distance to a stone bench which sat off to the side of the cathedral. From here you could not only see the front entrance, but also the windows along the side of the building and the towering spires. We sat under a canopy of branches, laid bare in the winter air. They looked like ancient fingers, lacing together to create our own little hideaway. I tried to calm myself and just be here for Harry; not worrying about what I had to do when I returned to Grimmauld Place.

"I came here once," he started, "when I was in primary school. It was the year before I left to go to Hogwarts. It was a special trip, you had to be invited to go by your teacher. We came into London on a Thursday, spent the whole day touring. Then we stayed overnight at a host family for the night, and did more sightseeing on Friday before we went back to Surrey. I never understood why I was allowed to go. The trip had a really high fee for it, but they told me the payment had come from a special fund the school had. Now I wonder if it was Seph who paid it.

"Did you know it was the first night I slept in a real bed, well, at least the first night I could remember doing so. It wasn't lumpy like my camp bed under the stairs and it had plenty of blankets, so I was nice and warm," he continued, looking so pained at remembering his childhood.

"Anyway, we took a tour of this building, learning all about the history of it and what important things had happened here. It was so big and I felt so small," he sort of trailed off and I couldn't imagine where he was going with all this. "While we were there, I saw this couple kissing. I wasn't used to seeing people kiss, it's not like Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were affectionate, even with each other."

"Harry, did you bring me here to kiss me? Because, if that's the case, can we get to the snogging, please. I have things at home I need to be working on for dinner tonight. Everyone's coming at six for cocktails -"

"Gin," he cut me off. "I'm getting there, just let me finish my story." I frustratedly nodded for him to continue.

"I watched the couple. They were so happy together. I wanted to be happy like that, someday. I wanted someone who'd look at me and their eyes would light up just because they saw me. It was so much like when other kids' parents were waiting outside the school yard to pick their children up, like the world was right because their child was back with them. I never remembered anyone looking at me that way. No one loved me, Gin. I wanted someone to love me," he eked out through a broken voice.

"Oh, Harry," I answered but he shook his head, looking up from the string which was dangling from the edge of his glove and had held his attention while he was telling me his sad tale.

"Then there was you. You're the first person who loved me just because you loved me. There are others who care about me, and I care about them back; but you, your face lights up when you see me. You glow and no matter how hard my day has been, or what I've had to face, if I see your face, it's all better." Hot, fat tears were rolling down my face now and I couldn't even form words.

"Life is unpredictable, and what you thought would always be there can suddenly slip through your fingers and be gone. Too many people I've cared about are gone for me not to understand how it works. I can't imagine how I'd live if anything ever happened to you. Ginevra Molly Weasley, will you let me love you, every day we have left? Will you let me give you a home and a family? Will you marry me?"

I had no idea where this conversation was going when we started, but this certainly wasn't where I was expecting it to end up. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. The center was a round, golden brown stone, and surrounding it were alternating diamonds and what I guessed were rubies. The sun broke out from behind the clouds above them, and when the beams hit the ring, the light split apart, sending tiny rainbows over the branches of the tree, the trunk, the bench, even the church building behind us. I sat there, looking at the ring, slowly moving my hand toward it, afraid it would disappear with the sunshine. My heart felt it would pound out of my chest and I couldn't get enough air into my lungs, regardless of how hard I was breathing.

"Gin," Harry's voice beckoned. I couldn't look away from the jewel in his hand.

"Huh?"

"Are you going to answer me?" I gasped, realizing I hadn't said anything to Harry. As if I'd ever say no.

"Yes," I whispered, "a thousand times yes." His arms were immediately around me and his lips were on mine and we were both crying, but it didn't matter. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him tightly to me. Laughter bubbled up from my toes, lightening every cell in my body. I felt like I could fly away, somehow the bubbles would escape me and I'd be up in the air with the sunshine. It was hard to laugh and kiss at the same time, but somehow I was doing it.

Harry pulled back, one arm still around my waist, our knees now touching on the bench. My arms were still around his neck. He still had the ring in his hand, and I realized he couldn't put it on me if I didn't take my heavy mittens off.

"It's beautiful," I mumbled. "No, it's more than beautiful, it's like nothing I've ever seen. Where did you...?"

"This is the ring my dad gave my mum, with some changes. I changed the emerald, which was in the middle, out for this stone. It's a cinnamon diamond, and I hope you don't mind, but the color reminded me of your eyes. I figured you could look down at it and remember how special the sparkle in your eyes makes me feel," he told me and before he could slip the ring on my hand I was kissing him again.

Harry's mouth had always been warm and pliable, but this kiss was different. I felt it in my toes and my ears and down to the tips of my fingers. It was like I was filled with him, and he was energizing my whole body. We only stopped when we absolutely had to breathe. We pressed our foreheads together, and the verdant and citron hues of his eyes were all I could see. I'd never realized just how deep and varied they were.

"Harry, it's just so...that's the most romantic thing I've ever heard," I mumbled, not even sure if what I was saying made a darn bit of sense. "Are those rubies?"

He shook his head nearly imperceptibly. If we weren't connected I might not have noticed it. "They're garnets," he explained. "They look like fire. My mum had hair like fire. So do you." I started to hyperventilate. Each time I thought this couldn't get any better, it did.

"Gin, honey, relax, breathe in, breathe out," Harry directed me and I obediently followed. I didn't want what I was feeling to end, but I didn't want to pass out either.

"Would you please put it on my hand," I finally begged.

"Of course, my love." Harry pulled my mitten off and slid the ring on my hand. It fit perfectly. I admired it for a moment before I pulled him up off the bench with me and leapt into his arms. He spun me around and kissed me resoundingly.

"We're getting married," I whispered when he put me down. He nodded. "We're getting married?" I asked a little louder and Harry still nodded. "We're getting married," I cheered loudly, scaring the flock of pigeons who'd congregated in front of St. Paul's, sending the noisy flock into the air, further surprising Harry and me. To accent my excitement, the bells of the cathedral began to peal.

"Come on, Gin, everyone will be at the house when we get back," Harry said, pulling me back to the alley behind the cathedral's school where we'd Apparated in.

"They aren't supposed to be there for hours," I commented, staring at the amazing ring on my hand.

"Yes, well, I was in touch with them all and asked them to show up a little early," he confessed.

"Sure of my answer were you?" Harry looked like he'd been caught snitching from the biscuit jar. "As if I ever would have said no," speaking aloud my thoughts from earlier. We Disapparated back to Grimmauld Square, crossed the street and quickly ran up the steps to number twelve, hoping no one was looking as we appeared in the park and then disappeared again.

True to his word, his home was filled with our family and friends. Our return was announced by my mother, squealing before we'd even shut the door, pulling my hand up for inspection and then pulling me into a strong hug. She was crying and mumbling and I had no idea what she was even attempting to tell me.

Mum let go of me, repeating the process with Harry. I looked up at my father, standing back, his eyes damp with unshed tears.

"You're not my little princess anymore, are you?" he quietly asked when he'd stepped toward me.

"I will always be your princess, Daddy, I promise," I quietly made my oath before snuggling myself into my father's chest. Harry and I made our way through the crowd bottlenecking the entryway of the old Black house. Connor had immediately run up to us and hugged us both. Unca Hawwy had asked the little man to be the ring bearer, with Teddy of course, and he said he would do it. When I finally made it through the crowd, there stood Seph, in the doorway to the dining room.

"You knew about this, huh?"

She nodded. "The ring was among Sirius's things," she explained. "He'd rescued it from the house in Godric's Hollow. It was among some ash and shattered glass. He brought it to me before he went after Peter. I knew he wanted Harry to have it. Sirius just never had the chance to give it to him. I went with Harry to have it cleaned and inspected, and saw the changes he made to it. It's a very special ring and I'm glad it's being worn by someone just as special." Seph made me cry yet again today, and I leaned in and hugged her. I could feel her struggle to keep herself composed as we held each other. As happy as I was, my heart broke at the same time. I couldn't imagine loving as I did and then losing the one I loved.

Seph took a deep breath and pulled away from me; a smile, albeit fake, graced her lips. "I've made a little something special for the occasion," she told me as she turned and reached onto the dining room table behind her. "When Harry told me what he was doing, I dug into the archives and found a recipe for something unique, which we never put into production. I made a small batch all on my own. Here, have a look at the bottle." She handed me one, and I read the label.

"_She Said Yes_!" I exclaimed. "Really, the name is _She Said Yes!"_

Harry made his way toward us, taking the bottle from my hands and then smiling widely before hugging her.

"Thanks so much, Seph," I heard him whisper before releasing her. "So," he spoke louder this time, "what kind of beer is it?"

Seph swallowed deeply. "It's a Raspberry Chocolate Lambic." Something passed between Harry and Seph, and she gently nodded as she tapped the beer with her wand to release the cap. Harry took a pull before handing it to me to do the same. It was an amazing beer. I'd tasted nothing like it. The tears which were brimming in her eyes told me it was something very special, too.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: While this chapter is mostly fluff, there are some hints as to where the second arc of the story is headed. The song is by Colbie Calliat and its just bubbly and happy. Hope you all enjoy. MNF**

**Chapter 21:**

**Brighter Than the Sun**

**Harry POV:**

"Harry, have you ever been to Seph's house before?" Ginny asked as we Apparated onto the grounds of the MacPhearson family home, _Álainn Feirm_. We were picking Connor up to take him to the New Year's parade and carnival in London. We weren't sure if Seph was coming with us or not. We had no idea how late she'd gotten in last night from her "date" with Charlie. Ginny was anxious to find out how it went, as I was, if I was honest. I wanted to see her happy, Seph had earned some happiness in her life.

"No, I've never been here, Gin, but Seph said to come by to pick up Connor. Come on, it's not like they're going to hex us," I told her as I reached up for the knocker on the door. When my hand came close, the thing transformed into a raven, who opened it's mouth and spoke to us.

"Who goes there?" It asked in a resonate voice, haughty and slightly irritated.

"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley," I responded. "We're here to pick up Connor." Though the knocker was made of iron, I could swear its beady eyes assessed us both. Charmed items like this always made me uncomfortable. You shouldn't be able to speak with inanimate objects.

"Ah, you're the one who gave young Master MacPhearson his new riding toy, are you not?" The bird inquired, more irritation evident in its voice.

"We are," I answered. "It's a replica of his father's." The bird engaged in a bit of a staring contest. I wasn't about to lose to a hunk of metal and paint. "Thank you," the knocker replied after a long moment of silence and stares. "It has made the young lad happier than I have seen. He insisted on riding outside on it most of yesterday. You may enter."

With a loud caw from its mouth, the door opened of its own volition, and Ginny and I each took a few steps into the entryway, the door shutting behind us. Unlike Grimmauld Place, which wore it's age poorly, I never would have guessed that Seph's family home was hundreds of years old. It was light, gleaming and well maintained. The entry way was huge, nearly the size of the dining room at Grimmauld or half the first floor at the Burrow. The floor was marble, polished to a shine which reflected the deep blue paint on the walls and the pristine white trim. Portraits of the matriarch and patriarchs of the MacPhearson family lined the walls, and mixed in between were brass sconces which lit as we entered. Delicate footsteps on the hard floor alerted us to someone come to greet us.

I had never seen a house-elf such as this. She was very clean and wearing a dark blue dress with a tartan sash over it and tiny matching shoes. I had only seen extremes in house elf clothing. Kreacher refused to wear anything other than his rag — even though he did launder it regularly. Dobby, on the other end of the spectrum, wore everything he could find, all at once. This little elf was very smartly dressed, her hair combed into a stylish small bun on her head and a wide smile on her face.

"Mr. Potter, yer right on time," she said in a rather high but not unpleasant voice, tinged with a bit of brogue. "My name is Beaghmèid, 'though ye may call me Beaghy. It be me pleasure to welcome ye ta _Álainn Feirm_. Master Connor has been anxiously awaiting yer arrival."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Beaghy," I responded as I leaned down and put out my hand. Beaghy looked surprised that I would want to shake hands with her, but I didn't pull back, and after a moment she put her small one in mine.

"I wasn't sure the stories were true," she told me, and I chose to crouch down on my knees, so we were closer to the same height. "We'd heard 'bout what ye did for that elf, how ye buried 'im. Yer famous among me kind, not because ye defeated…well ye know, but because of yer kindness. I see now that ye have earned the praise which was given ye." I felt very humbled to hear such approval from someone who had no reason to share it.

"Thank you," I told her quietly. "Dobby was special to me, a real friend who sacrificed to save me and people I care about. I treated him the way I would have treated any friend in that situation." I then released her hand.

"That says much about ye," she respectfully added. "Elizabeth is getting Connor ready. Would ye like some tea, cider, beer?"

"Isn't it a little early for beer?" It was only half ten in the morning.

"Around this house, it's never too early for beer," she explained and we laughed.

"No, I think we're fine," I explained as I stood. "Beaghy, this is my fiancée, Ginny Weasley." I put my hand on her back and pushed her forward.

"Oh, ye are a beauty," the elf complimented her and Ginny blushed. "Are ye all good lookin' in ye family? That 'twas ye brother here with Mistress Seph last night?" Ginny nervously laughed and then shook the elf's hand.

"Yes, that was my brother. Between you and me, he's one of the better looking ones," she confessed and we all laughed again. Talking with Beaghy was like speaking with someone's grandma and she put me at ease.

"Come, have a seat, Master Connor was fightin' with his nanny 'bout wearin' a jumper today," she explained. "He also was not happy about not seeing his mummy this morning."

"Seph isn't up yet?" Ginny asked as we walked into a formal sitting room, done entirely in dark green and browns. Gin and I both sat down in tall wingback chairs, while Beaghy sat down in a miniature version of the same seats. I wasn't sure if it was made for her or for Connor, but it would suit either fine.

"No," the elf told us, "she came home very late last night and hasn't been up yet."

"I see," Gin said with a knowing smile. While I wanted to see Seph happy, I wasn't going to push things with her and Charlie. I didn't even know if it was possible for Seph to fall in love again.

Before we could start any more conversation, heavy steps on the stairs alerted us to Connor's imminent arrival. As he became closer, he let a loud call lose from him. "Unca Hawwy?"

"In here, Connor," I responded in a much quieter voice. I hadn't finished speaking when he rounded the corner and ran through the doorway into my arms.

"Unca Hawwy, I miss you," he told me as he gave me a hug.

"I missed you too, buddy. You all ready to go?" Connor nodded excitedly. "Let's get your things." I noticed he wasn't wearing his jumper. "You'd better put your jumper on. We don't want you to get cold and need to leave early, do we?" Connor shook his head, wide-eyed, before he scampered off my lap to retrieve the heavy jumper his nanny had thrown over her arm. She smiled at me as the little boy allowed it to be pulled over his head. When she was done, he looked over at Gin and me.

"Here's his rucksack," she explained. "I've put a change of clothes in there, as well as a few of his favourite snacks and his napping blanket. There are also nappies, wipes and other things to keep him clean." Ginny stood up and took the bag from Elizabeth and then took Connor's hand. "Your present was remarkable as well. I had a hard time getting him off of it yesterday."

"I'm glad he liked it. Connor," I called him and he looked up at me with those big green eyes of his, "you can only ride your motorbike when it's okay with mummy or Elizabeth. Okay?" He nodded at me. "I can't take you on your daddy's big bike if you don't follow the rules on your little one." The little toy motorbike was intended to be a riding toy for the ground. I had charmed it to hover about six inches off the ground so that it flew like the big one. I'd only gone out on it a few times, but I was already hooked. There was a freedom to flying it which I truly appreciated. If Connor enjoyed it half as much as I, getting him off would indeed be difficult.

"I be good, Unca Hawwy. I wanna wide Daddy's bike," he told me in as serious of a tone as a two year old could have.

"Alright, then," I concluded our conversation. "Should we be off?" Connor nodded again and I took his other hand and we walked out the front door to the well wishes of Elizabeth and Beaghy. I wrapped my arms around Ginny who had picked up Connor and Disapparated us all to Grimmauld Place, not needing to go into my house. From there we walked to Camden Road, to get onto the tube. Connor had never ridden before, and he was fascinated as we went through the turnstiles and headed underground. It was only when we were about to get on the train that I realized Ginny wasn't nearly as familiar as I.

"You're sure the tunnels aren't going to collapse?" she sceptically inquired.

"Ginny, they're completely safe. I promise. I've been on them many times and nothing has ever happened. Come on, we need to move fast when it gets here. The doors aren't open forever," I explained as the train was slowing. We each held onto Connor and stepped into the car.

Both of them were amazed at the lights and signs we passed, and when we disembarked at King's Cross to change trains, it was a challenge to keep them moving forward. I didn't have the same reaction to the large space. I couldn't forget what I'd seen when I lay dead, or dying, or whatever it was that night. The creature under the chair still haunted me, even with my understanding of what it was.

The second ride took us to Green Park, and from there we only had to go a few blocks to find a space to watch the parade. I'd never been able to come in person, although I had snuck down and stood in the doorway when the Dursley's watched it on the telly. It was definitely better in person.

We found a space on the sidewalk, and Connor sat down on the curb, his eyes wide like saucers, taking everything in. Ginny and I sat down behind him, and I reached into my coat pocket and held my wand as I cast warming charms. It wasn't horribly cold out today, but the sun was hidden by clouds and there was a bit of a breeze. I didn't want any of us to catch a cold because we were out in the chilly air.

The parade was long, but surprisingly, Connor didn't once complain about it. He loved the jugglers and wanted to run up and grab one of their balls and try for himself. Ginny held him back, promising him we'd get him his own ball, and that we could work on learning to juggle together. He wasn't, however, happy with the clowns. When one approached him, he screamed out in terror and fled to Ginny's lap, hiding his face in her coat. I waved the gentleman off, who obviously felt bad about making him cry. As soon as the clowns were gone, he had calmed down and reclaimed his space in front of us. I bought nearly every different food from the vendors who came by, and we let Connor try a little of everything. He liked the falafel the best, which surprised both Gin and me. I wanted to make sure I told Seph when I saw her later. I also sampled several beers, sharing them with Ginny, making mental notes about what they tasted like and what flavours I tasted.

"Unca Hawwy, what dat?" Connor asked a while later. I looked up and saw what was confusing Connor. It was a large float with a purple dragon at its centre. It reminded me of one I had seen in a children's movie when I was growing up. His purple sparking "skin", pink ears and green glittering spikes on his back were garish and unrealistic.

"That's a dragon," I explained quietly.

"No, it isn't," he loudly rebuked. "Dwagon's not popule. Mr. Chawlie bwing me book of dem. Dey not wook wike dat. Why not fwyin'?" He was speaking loud enough that people around us could hear. I leaned close to his ear and spoke again.

"That is what Muggles think dragon's look like. They can't see the real ones like we can. We have to be quiet about being able to see real ones, because it will make the Muggles sad they can't." I wasn't sure I wanted to lie to Connor, but the whole truth wasn't exactly something I could explain either. "Can you be quiet about dragons and magic for me?"

"Is it a secwet?" He asked in an exaggerated whisper and I nodded.

"It is a secret, but you can talk about it with Mummy or Elizabeth or Ginny and me. Okay?" He smiled brightly and nodded before turning his head back to the parade, the purple dragon faded from sight.

The parade continued, and when it was over we made our way to Berkley Square to enjoy the carnival, but it was getting late, and Connor was getting cranky.

"Why is he whining like that?" I asked Ginny quietly as Connor was on my shoulders. He liked being able to see over the crowd.

"Because he's two," she answered. "He's not all that different from my brother. If he's tired, wet or hungry, he's going to complain."

"Ron's not that bad," I defended my friend.

"No, Ron isn't that bad, but Percy is. He's a prat for more than one reason. Come on, I think we should take him back to your house and let him nap before we need to be at Mum and Dad's for dinner."

"I guess you're right. I think we can Disapparate from that alley over there," I suggested and we discretely walked to the small alley and hid behind a fire escape ladder. I pulled a nearly-asleep Connor off my shoulders and quickly Disapparated us both to GrimmauldSquare a moment before Ginny did the same. We walked out of the park, across the street and into the house. Connor was asleep before I made it to the second floor and my bedroom.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who is reading, and especially to my pre-reader, Stephanie and my beta, Arnel. I wouldn't have been as productive as I've been this week without both of you. The song is by Sting. Enjoy, MNF**

**Chapter 22:**

**Cold Song**

**Persephone's POV:**

I paced in front of my fireplace, reached for the Floo powder and then pulled my hand back again. I was so uncertain of my actions. I ran my fingers through my hair, sure that my curls were now wilder than usual, and crossed in front of the fireplace again.

"You have to go," I reminded myself. "Your son is there and you need to go to him. Just suck it up, Seph, and go over there. No one is going to bite you." I was talking to myself, which was a sure sign my brain was my enemy. I took a few more steps, the clicking of my heels against the marble ringing through the virtually uninhabited house. I'd given all of my staff the day off and Elizabeth had gone to visit her parents after Connor was picked up this morning. The only other soul in the house was Beaghy, and she was alone in her quarters. It was the first time I was truly alone in nearly three years. My friends wouldn't leave me alone after Sirius's death; then, they protected me as I was pregnant with Connor. Between work and home, I was never truly by myself. I forgot what it felt like. I'd also forgotten what it felt like to be afraid of doing something.

I was to have been at the Weasley's for dinner five minutes ago. I just couldn't seem to bring myself to pass through the Floo. Who would have ever thought a dinner invitation would be so difficult to follow through on? I paced by the fireplace again, thankful that it wasn't possible to wear a groove in the marble. A flash of light followed by an up-flare of flames broke me from my mental deliberations. Harry's face appeared in the fireplace.

"Seph, why are you pacing back and forth?"

"Just pondering things," I cryptically replied. "Do you want to come through?"

"Sure," he answered, withdrawing his head before walking into my entryway. "I came to get you; you're never late for things."

"Sorry, it's truly not like me, I'm just… I'm wondering if this is a bad idea. Perhaps you should just bring Connor home?" I was nearly to the point of biting my nails, a nasty habit I'd given up when I was ten and my mother charmed them to taste like dragon bogies.

"Seph, what are you talking about? It's supper at the Weasley's. It's the same folks who came for dinner at my house last week. There's nothing to worry about." Harry looked at me, puzzled. I was still having problems seeing him without his glasses. He called it his Christmas gift to himself. It made him look less like his father, and more like his mum. I wished she was here, or any of my girlfriends from school, or even Tonks. I could use a girl to discuss things with.

"See, that's where you're wrong, Harry. I just don't, well, I, er, don't want to, uh, give anyone the wrong idea," I hesitantly explained. Understanding swept across Harry's features and his face softened much like his mother's had when she was empathizing with someone.

"This is about Charlie?" I nodded and pulled him toward my study and away from the nerve-wracking fireplace. "Tell me what happened."

"That's the thing, nothing happened, per se. We had a very pleasant time last night and I enjoyed his company immensely, but as a friend. We were out until nearly five this morning, which was delightful. I haven't just been Seph in far too long. The thing is, he had that look on his face when he dropped me off, and I just knew he wanted… I'm not in a position to...my heart isn't mine to give away." I explained as best I could.

"You're still in love with Sirius." It was a statement, not a question. I nodded.

"He's the father of my son. He was my first love, my first kiss, my first… and there are days I swear he's still here, watching me, and I can nearly reach out and touch him. It's just not fair to Charlie." I hadn't ever told anyone about the times I swore I smelled Sirius' cologne as I walked through the halls of the Muggle brewery, or the mornings I'd awaken sure that it was his body which had kept me warm through the night. If he had passed in any other way, anything other than through that damned portal, I was certain I could let his memory rest.

"Seph, Charlie isn't going to ask you to marry him tonight, maybe not ever. Believe me, he's not expecting anything. Come on, we're all waiting for you," he urged me, and I decided to stop over thinking. Harry was right, I was being silly; this was simply a family dinner to celebrate the beginning of a new year, not a betrothal ceremony. I smoothed my hair out and followed him through the Floo.

When I arrived at the Weasley's, I was surprised to find no one there to greet us, not even my son. Molly had set the table, and there were platters, tureens, bowls and baskets piled high with food already laid along the center of the table.

"Come on, Connor was entertaining everyone when I left," Harry explained and I followed him into the sitting room, where my son was indeed putting on a show.

"...den dere was jug'jers..." the adults looked confused. "Jug'jers!"

"Jugglers," Ginny interjected, clarifying the word for the rest. An "ah" passed through the room.

"Yeah, jug'jers," Connor exclaimed, spreading his little hands wide. "Dey's tossin' de baws back and fowth. Unca Hawwy towd me he teech me."

"I didn't know you could juggle, Harry," Ron looked at him puzzled. "Why didn't you ever do it in our dorm?" The look on Harry's face confirmed that he'd never juggled in his life. I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out. The giggles contagiously rippled through the room, causing Connor to laugh, but not knowing why. He finally turned to look at his Uncle Harry and saw me standing next to him.

"Mummy!" he cried, and I felt much calmer when I was able to hold him again.

"I take it you had a good day with Harry and Ginny?"

"Yup! I was good, too!"

"Really?"

"Yes, Seph, he was a very good boy. He even took a nap in my bed," Harry explained as I stood, Connor in my arms and resting on my hip. He was getting a bit too heavy to do this anymore. It saddened me that my baby was growing up. I was certain I'd never give him a little brother or sister.

"I'm very proud of you my little man," I cooed as I kissed his cheek. "It looked like supper was ready and the table. Are you hungry?"

"I's **a'ways **hungry," he answered.

"It sounds like a good thing I made lots of things to eat then," Molly exclaimed as she walked over to us. "Glad you made it, dear."

"I'm sorry I was late. Had too much free time this afternoon and time slipped away from me," I made my excuses, which she simply smiled at.

"Seph, I remember the first time I had a few moments to myself when the children were all gone to school. I took a bath, cleaned up the house, drank some tea, read a little. All the sudden it was dinner and I hadn't made anything. Enjoy it while you can, dear, because he'll be heading to Hogwarts before you know it."

"Thanks, Molly. He's already growing up too fast for me. My baby isn't a baby anymore," I explained.

"I no baby, I's a big boy!"

"You certainly are," Molly affirmed before she opened her arms to him. "Come on, let's get you into your special chair, shall we?" Connor leaned into her embrace and the pair disappeared into the kitchen, the Weasley family following behind her. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around coming eye to chin with Charlie.

"Hi," I said with a nervous laugh.

"You're shorter," he commented.

"I wore four-inch stilettos last night. Today, they're only about two," I explained, lifting the heel of my ankle boots. "These are more practical for chasing my son with," I explained.

"You look beautiful, regardless of what you're wearing," he whispered as he kissed my cheek. Last night I had dressed to the nines: silk dress robes, my Louboutain patent-leather pumps, lingerie imported from France; today was the opposite: jeans, jumper and ankle boots. It had been a long time since anyone had called me beautiful, other than my son or Walter at the Muggle brewery.

"Thank you," I whispered back, blushing at such flattery.

"Come on, if we don't get to the food before Bill and Ron, there might not be any," he teased and the comfortable ease of the night before had returned. When we entered the kitchen, there were only two seats left, and of course they were next to each other. I sat down next to Connor, Charlie to my right. Ginny was on the other side of my son, already cutting up his food for him.

Dinner at the Weasley's was pleasant, and entertaining. Hermione regaled us with tales of taking Ron to her parents' Christmas party for their patients. Apparently, he didn't do too well at a Muggle event.

"You never told me not to take my wand out," he groused.

"Ronald, we were at my Muggle parents' house, with their Muggle clients. Why would you think you could take your wand out? Anyway, Mum could have put the Wassail into the pot to warm it again."

"It seemed easier to put a warming charm on it," Ron rebuked, sulking just a bit.

"Yes, well, my grandfather thought you were a bit barmy for waving a stick over the punchbowl. He wasn't pleased when he found out you were my beau," Hermione explained. "I promised him you'd just over imbibed that night and it wouldn't happen again." The family broke out into peals of laughter, Connor joining in after everyone else was laughing. His rather loud guffaw surprised several of them.

"Seph, I have a proposition for you," George interjected when conversation lagged. We were nearly through the main course, and were wisely waiting before we partook in pudding.

"Really, er, remember my son is here," I hesitantly replied. While I didn't know George well, I'd heard enough about his prankster nature to be a little nervous about what he might suggest.

"A **business **proposition," he amended and I nodded. "Would you be interested in selling some of the magical beers at our shop? They'd be right up our clientele's alley," he explained.

"Probably, although we need to research law on selling alcoholic beverages in a shop such as yours. I know Remus and Fergus had looked into developing a partnership with Zonko's, but it never came to fruition because of the war. Why don't you get in touch with the receptionist when we head back to work on Monday, and we'll schedule a meeting to look into what legal hurdles we might need to jump to make this happen," I explained, excited to have another outlet for our wares. The Muggle brews were distributed widely, both to pubs and shops. Wizarding law had an extra layer or two which would need to be investigated.

"Excellent," he responded, seemingly happy about the possible partnership.

"So, Harry," Bill spoke, "have any plans for new beers?"

"I do," he proudly announced before looking at me for approval.

"You're the brewmaster. I trust your judgment," I told him.

"Really?" he responded, rather surprised.

"Harry, it was never my favourite part of the business. I'm meant to deal with books, supplies and contracts; not brewing. I'm glad to have two very competent masters to handle the beer," I explained and I saw him puff up with pride just a little.

"Well, I've been reading my father's journals, and there are some interesting ideas in there. From the recipes, it seems like a traditional black and tan would be good. He and Sirius came up with a rather delightful charm for it as well," he explained. I felt uncomfortable that he was delving into his father's books so heavily. It wasn't the beer which had me worried, it was James' notes on his work which troubled me.

"What sort of charm would you put on a black and tan?" Bill inquired.

"A mild skin changing charm, giving the drinker a pleasant "summery" glow, even in the dead of winter. Get it, black and TAN," he explained and the others laughed, I remained somewhat quiet and sceptical.

"That's bloody brilliant," Ron exclaimed.

"The other just sounds good, he wrote that you'd test brewed it already, but chose not to put it into production, Seph." His calling of my name tore me away from my jumbled thoughts. "A golden ale with coriander and cloves?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Oh, yeah, we did test brew it, and it was good. We made it when we were coming up with our summer beer. We went with the golden wheat with the peach and persimmon flavours instead. It was good, very light and effervescent, if I remember correctly. Walter would have everyone's notes on it in his files," I explained. I remembered when we were brewing that. It was just after James' last transfer within the Department of Mysteries. There was no way Harry would have found that brew without digging through his dad's notes on his job as well.

"I would certainly like to try eet," Fleur added, "that eez, after ze baby eez here," she very plainly added. I didn't realize she was pregnant, although the rest of her family must have known, for they just smiled and nodded.

"Congratulations, Bill, Fleur. I still have all my maternity things, should you need them. You're about my height, so I'm sure they'd work for you. I had a hard time finding things long enough for my legs and torso," I explained. Fleur nodded and smiled and I was glad I saved everything.

"You had baby, Mummy?" Connor asked, and everyone sniggered, except for him.

"I did. It was you," I explained.

"Oh," he said as he nodded in an exaggerated fashion. "I was in your tummy?" He pointed at Fleur's protruding belly across the table.

"That's how mummies grow babies, sweetie."

"Did you eat me?" Fresh laughter rippled around the table.

"No, little love. When you're older I'll explain it to you. Just know that Mummy and Daddy loved each other very much and you were made from that love. You are the best parts of your daddy and me," I explained. These were the same words I told him every time we talked about where he came from, or why I had him, or even if he was simply missing having his father in his life.

"Okay," he stated before spearing a carrot with his fork and eating it. My eyes met Harry's as I looked up and though I couldn't identify what I saw in his face, it troubled me. I refused to look at Charlie out of guilt and I wasn't even happy with what I was seeing in Molly's face. She was too hopeful for my comfort.

The rest of dinner was more comfortable, and the topics of discussion were far more mundane. I helped Molly with the dishes while Charlie and Ginny took Connor upstairs to see their bedrooms. I deftly avoided discussing my dating life with the Weasley matriarch. I wasn't sure what I was feeling, but I didn't want to give Molly any undue excitement.

When we were done and Molly was putting the kettle on for an evening cuppa, I was able to corner Harry away from the others, in the bottom of the stairwell.

"Harry, have you read everything in your father's journals?"

"I have, and I think he was on to something. Did you know he sent a message through-"

"Stop right there," I interrupted, holding up my hands. "What he was working on was so dangerous. Your father was an expert in theoretical magic. Most of what he was considering was probably not even possible. Please, don't -"

"Seph, I'm not stupid. I won't do anything without researching it," he told me and I knew he was going to try something. Maybe not right away, but he would eventually.

"Harry, please, I'm begging you, I can't lose anyone else. I don't think I'd survive it. I love you like you are my own blood. I should have raised you. Please don't make me bury you," I pleaded. His face softened.

"But if I can have—" we were interrupted by Ginny coming downstairs with Charlie behind, carrying my nearly asleep son and a large stuffed animal of some sort.

"You two okay?" Ginny asked as she came closer, her arm winding around Harry's midsection.

"Absolutely," I tried to convincingly reply.

"Sure, just talking work," Harry answered.

"Great, but you're allowed to take some time off," she chastised. "Connor's nearly asleep. If you want, we could put him down in my room and you can stay longer?"

"Given how hectic his day has been, I think it would be best if I just took him home and put him down in his own room. Thank you, though." I walked out of the stairwell and into the lounge where the others were sitting. Charlie was still holding Connor, shifting back and forth on his feet to help lull my son into slumber. "Molly, thank you so much for inviting us, we had a wonderful evening."

"You're welcome anytime," she told me kissing my cheek. Arthur stood and did the same. I grabbed Connor's bag and put it over my shoulder and reached for him, but Charlie shook his head.

"If you don't mind, I'll carry him through the Floo and then you can put him down. I'd like to talk with you for a minute, if you don't mind?" My stomach clenched into a knot, but I knew I couldn't avoid talking with him forever. I was evasive enough last night. It was better to face my fear head on.

"Sure, that would be lovely," I answered and we both went through the Floo to my home.


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Note: This is another long chapter, almost 50% longer than the usual ones. It's also rather momentous. I ended up changing direction for the story because of how this chapter sort of wrote itself. I hope that all of you enjoy, I think many of you will. The song is by Peter Gabriel. Thanks so much to my support system: Arnel, Stephanie and Ben; you make my life easier. See you all on Thursday. MNF**

**Chapter 23:**

**Come Talk to Me**

**Persephone's POV:**

I had left Charlie in the lounge when I went up to put Connor down. I preferred the lounge to the formal sitting room, much more comfortable. The front room of the house had been decorated by my mother, all in greens and browns with hard furniture and thick curtains. I only went in there when I needed, it felt too stiff to ever be comfortable there. The lounge was at the back of the house, my study off to the side, and it was the space where Connor and I truly lived. It looked like it as well; stains on the carpet, toys in the corner, children's books and crayons on the small table near my desk.

Coming back downstairs, I steadied myself for the conversation we were undoubtedly going to have. I liked Charlie, I just wasn't sure I would ever feel more. A quick check of my appearance in the mirror prolonged the inevitable, and I groaned at the sight of more grey hairs near my temple. My fortieth birthday was a mere nine months away, and I was looking like it. I walked into the kitchen, and called out to my guest.

"I'm going to get myself a beer, would you like one?" I definitely needed a drink to settle my nerves. I was surprised when Charlie walked into the kitchen to answer me.

"Sure. What do you have?"

"Good question," I replied before opening the smaller second ice box. Some people have wine chillers in their homes, I have a beer chiller. "There's some _MMB_, _Purple Pleasure_, _Hair of the Dog_, _Lover's Libation, Sibeal's Shiver, _the last of the _Yuletide Spirit. _I've a bit of the _Memories Melange_ which hasn't been bottled. It's in this small cask here. There is some of my most recent experiment, a caramelized cream stout."

"Do you always have such a variety?" He asked before standing behind me to look into the refrigerator. My entire body was aware of just how close he was.

"I'm the Chief Operating Officer of two breweries, living on the farm where much of our wheat is grown. Yes, I have this much beer regularly. I also encourage my workers to try as many different varieties as they can. I've found if they know where the crops are going, it helps. You should see the cooler in the break room in the barn. I keep at least a small cask or a case of bottles of all our varieties in there," I explained. "They also can visit the small brewery I've set up in the same building, so they understand how the fruits of their labor are used."

"You have a brewery on site?"

"Nothing as large as either of our plants, but yes, I have a small set-up here. It's only slightly larger than a private individual's home brewing set-up. I need to tinker if I'm going to come up with new beers, which is what keeps the money flowing." While the large batch brewing wasn't my favorite part of the business, I'd always enjoyed playing with new ideas. Sirius and I had spent much of our time experimenting. I had developed a strong instinctual knowledge of what would and would not work; but you can't truly know until you taste it.

"Then I leave the choice up to you," he told me. "Surprise me."

"Okay, couple of questions first. What beers in our line do you like?"

"I loved the _Yuletide Spirit_ and I could drink the _Hair of the Dog_ any day of the week," he explained. "But I know not to drink too much of it."

"Good, I don't think you'd look too good with dog fur," I teased. "So you like strong beers. Were there any you didn't like?"

"The one you made for Harry and Ginny. It was a little fruity for my taste," he explained and I stifled a laugh.

"Lambics do tend to be sweet. Okay, the lighter and fruitier ones are out. Well, I've both YS and HotD; however, I think you might like my new one. Are you game to taste it?"

"Sure," he replied with a cock of his head and a shrug of his shoulders. Charlie seemed like he was game for almost anything. "Tell me about it."

I walked over to the cupboard where I kept my glasses and pulled out two pints. Cream stouts had an excellent head, and these glasses were the perfect thing to foster it. I poured the first pint and handed it to Charlie and then poured myself one. It looked outstanding; the beer was deep brown, almost mahogany, in color, the head a beautiful ocher. I closed the door to the 'beer box' as Beaghy called it, and motioned with my head we should move back to the lounge.

"Oh, before we sit down, do you want anything to eat? I have some holiday biscuits which would be quite good with this."

"I couldn't eat anything else," he explained while sitting down on the black leather sofa. I joined him on it. "My mum cooks enough to feed an army, which was fine when we were younger, but I can't pack it away like I used to." He took a long pull on his glass before licking the foam from his upper lip. "This is very good. The flavor is really complex."

"That's why I like brewing stouts. It's all about the mix of malts and then how they are roasted. In this one, there are six varieties of malt, all fire roasted. I've been playing with the combinations for a year or so, and I think it's just about finished."

"It tastes so much like caramel," he said as he took another pull. "How did you do that?"

"Some of it comes from the roasting of the malts, but I also scalded the cream before adding it. It cooks the sugars partially, giving it the caramel flavor. The cream is also what gives it such a thick taste and the cling to your palate," I explained.

"You really enjoy what you do, don't you?"

"I do, of course it's the only thing I know. I don't think I would have stuck with it if I didn't love it so. I hadn't ever thought about what I would do for a career. MacPhearson girls were raised to be wives and maybe work in the family shops, not to be working women. I'm quite lucky I fell into a job I enjoy," I quietly explained, looking away. I wasn't entirely sure how much of my past Charlie was aware of. We hadn't discussed my horrific betrothal last night, or my life in hiding. His parents knew the entire sordid tale. I didn't really want to talk about it, or Sirius, but I also realized I couldn't avoid it forever.

"So, if you start brewing this, what are you going to call it?" He asked, thankfully not pressing for details of my private life right now.

"Not sure, but if I do, I was thinking it should be charmed to make the drinker moo should he have drunk too much. It's rather alcoholic, almost seven and a half percent. I don't know, maybe something like "Moo Juice". I haven't thought that far yet," I explained.

"Do you mind if I make a suggestion?" I nodded, letting him know whatever he was thinking was fine. "This is a very relaxing beer, the kind you'd drink after a long day at work, just to unwind. Merlin knows I often need something like that after a day with the dragons. What if you put a calming charm or potion with it, and gave it a name like 'Caramel Calm'?"

"That's brilliant," I exclaimed. "Except I think I'll call it _Charlie's Caramel Calm_! You have a knack for this. We make a good pair; would you consider changing careers?" I joked. I took another sip of the beer, closing my eyes to relish the flavors. When I opened them, he'd moved closer to me, and set his glass down on the low table which lay in front of the couch.

"I think we make a good pair in lots of ways," he told me quietly as he took my glass from my hands and set it alongside his. He then took my hands in his. "Seph, I know you're scared. I bet you could come up with a hundred reasons why you think this is a bad idea. I know you've been hurt, and Sirius's death was hard on you. I know Connor is the center of your universe now. I also know we have a good time with each other. We have so much in common. All I'm asking is for a chance."

I looked into his eyes. They were such a dark brown his pupils were nearly indistinguishable. He wasn't feeding me a line, he truly did simply want a chance. I was so afraid though. Even if I gave it to him, I wasn't sure there was anything for me to give back.

"Charlie, you're a really good man. I… I'm not sure I'm the right woman for you," I tried to explain. "I don't know if I can be what you're looking for."

"Seph, I'm not asking for anything other than the chance to spend time with you; and maybe some with you and Connor. He's a great kid," he explained and I nodded, but it brought up another problem in my mind.

"We need to be very careful with him, though. He's never known his father, and although he does look at some of my memories of Sirius, I don't know how he'd do if someone else he cared about was taken away from him. He's just a little boy –"

"Seph, even if we are never more than good friends, I promise I won't walk out of Connor's life. I'd love to take him to Quidditch matches and other guy places. He has Harry now, but a boy needs someone he can go to with guy questions as he's growing up. I'd be more than happy to be that for him." He was giving me all the right answers, which was making me even more conflicted.

"What about our age difference? I'm going to be forty in the fall, you just turned twenty-six. Wouldn't you rather be with someone closer to your own age? I'm so old."

"You're not old. I don't know if you've looked in the mirror lately, but you don't look at all like you're thirty-nine. As for women my own age; I've tried to find them, they just aren't there. The few girls I did date were intimidated by my career or my family or my lack of piles of gold. None of those seem to bother you," he explained. "Before you can bring it up, yes, the dragon preserve is in Romania, but I'm being relocated to Wales in March. We've raised four breeding pairs of Welsh Greens and it was decided it would be better to have them on their home soil so we can build the population back up. The Death Eaters slaughtered them for their parts," he explained.

"You're going to be in Wales? Where?" Ideas and feelings were rolling around inside of me, and I wasn't sure which way was up.

"The reserve is just south of Corwen, in the Cambrian Mountains," he explained. "I have every intention of buying myself a small house, complete with a fireplace so I can Floo rather than Apparate. I don't always land as well as I could," he joked and I couldn't help but smile. "Please, Seph. We don't need to give this a label, we can just be two people enjoying each other's company."

I thought about what he was saying for a minute. What he was suggesting was so far from what I'd ever experienced, and yet, it was so normal as well.

"I've never 'gone with' someone before," I explained. "Going with you last night was my first 'date' ever. I'm going to need to take things very, very slowly."

"Seph, at least for the next few months, I'm going to be living thousands of miles away. It'll be impossible to take things too quickly," he joked and I smiled at him. He looked so excited, it was contagious. "Would it be okay if I kissed you now?" I nodded and prepared myself for what would come next.

A gentle tug on my hands prompted me to close my eyes and lean forward. I was surprised a moment later by Charlie's full lips on mine. They were much softer than they looked, and it took very little for me to surrender my control and follow where he was leading. He released one of my hands, his arm winding around my waist to pull me even closer to him. My hand moved to his chest, and I was surprised to find his heart beating as fast as mine.

A moment later he pulled away, sitting up a little straighter. He took another long drink of his beer, and then handed me my glass, which I appreciatively took and wetted my dried out mouth.

"So, I don't need to Portkey back to Romania until next Thursday," he explained. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"I had promised Connor I'd take him out on his pony tomorrow," I explained. "It's been so wet we haven't been able to ride as much as he's wanted to. I have an extra horse, if you'd be interested in joining us."

"That sounds perfect," he replied. This time I put our glasses down and leaned in to initiate another kiss.

Monday morning I was at work before anyone else. I knew Harry would be a little later today, he'd taken Ginny back to France last night, and his plan was to remain until they closed the castle to visitors at eleven. I brought in the remainder of the cask of stout Charlie and I had shared in so Harry could taste it. If he agreed, we could start production of it later this week, filling the gap left by the _Yuletide Spirit_.

Shortly after opening time I walked around the plant and greeted the staff, inquiring about their holidays. Having this many young folks working for me made me feel decidedly older, although I wouldn't go back to my late teens for any amount of money. A little before noon Harry arrived, carrying James' journals. Before we discussed beer, I needed to set him straight about his father's work. I called him into my office and had him shut the door.

"How was your weekend? Charlie wasn't around the Burrow much," he was smirking as he said this and I shook my head at him.

"Fine, and it's none of your business as to where Charlie might have been," I gently teased back before taking a deep breath and changing the tone of our conversation. "I have something else I need to talk about with you, though," I told him seriously as I stood and moved to the overstuffed chairs and motioned he should sit down.

"I brought those recipes, I thought I could brew a small batch to see if we need to make changes," he started in.

"Harry, I don't want to discuss beer, at least not yet. I do need to talk to you about those books," I explained with a slight flick of my head. "What are you planning, Harry?"

"I don't know what you mean," he attempted to act innocent.

"Yes, you do. You've been reading about your dad's work. You knew about the message he sent. You have read this theories, but they are just that, theories. I don't know if he would have ever attempted more than a message. I don't think you should either."

"But, Seph, what if it works?" he pleaded.

"What do you mean "if it works"? It's incredibly dangerous. Remus and I both knew what was in those books, but after reviewing them we decided it didn't make sense to follow that folly. I expect you have come to the same conclusion." I nearly yelled at him.

"You can't tell me what I can and cannot do. I am an adult," he yelled back.

"Then act like one."

"What, like you? Trudging through your days, never really happy? I want some of my family back. I thought you did too, or are you just upset you didn't go after him? He broke out of Azkaban for me, not you. I'm looking forward, figuring out what I need for the future. I don't need to live in the past like you do." His words stung as badly as if he'd slapped me. I just stood there, looking at him. I couldn't bring myself to say anything, fearful my next words would be in anger and I would come to regret the words said. Instead, I rose, walked back to my desk, picked up my quill and began writing. Harry said nothing further, and stood there a moment before moving. He left my office, leaving my door open, but slamming his behind him. I gave myself a moment to collect my thoughts and push down the tears which were threatening to fall. When I was composed I waved my wand over the small communications box on my desk.

"Susan, when you see Harry next, please let him know there's a beer for him to try in the cooler in the Tap Room. I'm going to head over to the other plant in a few minutes," I explained.

"That's fine, Seph. I was about to call you. You have a guest out here, Ginny's brother, Charlie," Susan replied.

"Tell him I'll be right out," I answered. I slid the parchments I was working on into my desk, grabbed my wand, purse and cloak before exiting my work space and locking the door. Charlie greeted me with a wide smile when I reached the lobby.

"This is a pleasant surprise," I remarked.

"I thought I'd see if you were free for lunch. I need your opinion on something."

"Okay, what?"

"It's a bit of a surprise," he told me and I bit my lip in an exaggerated worried face.

"Sounds like just what I need." It came out sounding much sadder than I'd planned.

"What's wrong?" He took my hand as he asked. I shook my head, letting him know this wasn't the place for this discussion. I wasn't even sure how much I wanted to say about what just happened. I turned my head to look at the reception desk.

"Susan, I'll go to MMB one when I'm finished with lunch. Harry's here, let him handle any emergencies. Plan on me working at the other building for the next few days." Susan nodded and I turned back to look at Charlie's smiling face. Keeping my hand in his, I left the building and the fight with Harry behind.


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's Note: The song for today is by Jars of Clay. Thanks to my support team for your help. You make all this so much easier. Enjoy, MNF**

**Chapter 24:**

**Hibernation Day**

**February 6, 1999**

**Ginny POV:**

"No, I'm not getting out of this warm bed," I told Harry, pulling the blankets up to my neck and holding on tightly. Hermione and I had come home for the weekend. She'd gone to her parents' house with Ron to celebrate her parents' wedding anniversary. That left Harry's house empty, just he and I alone for the entire weekend. It was a rare and wonderful experience we weren't planning to waste.

"Gin, you'll need to get out at some point," he teased, attempting to yank down the blankets. "You might need to use the loo. We're going to get hungry, which I am right now. Come on, you don't need to get dressed, but at least come down to the kitchen with me."

"Fine," I grumbled, but he was right, I was hungry. "Toss me my dressing gown and those socks." Harry threw the dark blue, quilted gown at me and I slipped my arms in and then cinched it at my waist. He was staring at my socks with a sceptical eye. "Is there something wrong with my socks?"

"Er, they're ugly as a garden gnome," he quipped back. "Where did you get them?"

"They were Charlie's, I nicked them when I was at the Burrow the last time. He left them behind when he went to Romania, and they weren't in his boxes for the new house, so I figured he didn't want them. I don't care if they're ugly either. Auntie Muriel made them, and they're very warm." I grabbed them from him and slid the yellow, purple and brown striped socks onto my feet, relishing how soft and toasty they made my tootsies feel. I picked up my wand and did the anti-slip charm on the bottom, since you could easily slide across the floor in these. With my luck I'd slip and fall and then not be able to fly for a month. Quidditch try-outs were coming up soon, and I wanted to be ready.

"He's really bought a house?" Harry asked and I stopped and stared at him. All of my family was surprised and thrilled when Charlie explained he was being transferred to Wales. The only one who wasn't happy about him buying the cottage in Corwen was Mum. I think she wanted him to live at the Burrow. She was having a hard time without anyone there to take care of besides Dad.

"Yes, he closed on it last week. He's made plans for things he wants to change or repair before he moves in next month. He asked me to help him decorate some of it. I'm surprised Seph didn't tell you about everything. They've been together just about every weekend since New Year's. Charlie has even come back some weeknights to visit." This was strange, since Charlie was so excited about it. I hadn't seen him this happy since he found out he was accepted into the dragon handling program. I was fairly certain Seph and Connor had something to do with his happiness as well.

"Well, Seph and I haven't been talking much lately," he explained. "She's been at MMB one while I've been at two." He sounded sheepishly embarrassed.

"That's odd," I prompted him. "She usually just lets Walter and Kate take care of things there." I swung my legs around and stood up, out of the bed and righted my gown. Harry stood up as well, sliding his feet into his house shoes. I followed him out of the room and down the stairs.

In the kitchen he put the kettle on while I opened the ice box to see what he had in it. With Harry and Ron living here alone, the food supply was spotty at best. I honestly thought they either went out or visited Mum and Dad instead of cooking for themselves. Thankfully, I found bread, butter and cheese. Grilled cheese sandwiches worked for breakfast or lunch. It was ten-thirty in the morning, so they'd work for brunch, too.

I pulled the items from inside the ice box and set them on the table. I waved my wand for the large skillet as well, and directed it to the cooker. Within moments I had the pan heating and the sandwiches preparing themselves. Harry had deftly moved the subject away from Seph, instead sharing the gossip from around the brewery.

"Oh, Susan wanted to make sure our weddings weren't on the same day," he explained. "She and Anthony have picked 23 October. I assured her we'd stay away from the date."

"That's fine," I replied. "I've never wanted a fall wedding. I've always wanted to get married in the summer, in Mum's garden, when everything is blooming. You know, that's something we should discuss; when we're going to get married." We hadn't broached the subject, even though Mum was pestering me to do so.

"Gin, I'd marry you tomorrow. Just tell me where to be and what to wear and I'll leave everything else to you," he explained as he moved closer and then wrapped me up in his arms. "I know the wedding part is important to you, but for me, I just want to be married to you." I tilted my head up so I could kiss him. The kiss rapidly became more passionate, but before we lost all control, the chime went off on the pan, alerting me it was time to flip our food over before it burned.

"Well, tomorrow is out. I don't have a dress to wear," I joked. "Do you have a calendar? We could pick our date right now."

"Sure, it's in my office," he told me as he drew his wand. "_Accio calendar_," he called and a moment later his calendar book zoomed into the room. "What month are the flowers the best?"

"Late July or early August," I answered.

"My birthday is on a Saturday this year," he said with some amusement in his voice. "I'd never forget our anniversary, that's for sure."

"Do you want to get married on your birthday? It would always be sort of overshadowed by our anniversary," I reminded him.

"Gin, I never celebrated my birthday until Hagrid brought me a cake he'd baked when I was eleven," he explained. "It wouldn't bother me to have something even happier on the date."

"Well, that was simple. We're going to be married on 31 July at the Burrow," I repeated before kissing him resoundingly. We were again interrupted by the chime for our food. Harry grabbed some crisps and apples and poured each of us a large mug of tea. We sat at the end of the kitchen table, and hammered out some of our other plans for the wedding.

"Who do you want as your attendants Gin?" Harry asked.

"Well, obviously Hermione and Luna, and I should ask Fleur since I was in her wedding. I'd really like to ask Seph to stand up with me as well. Do you think she'll say yes?" Harry looked away when I mentioned her name. "Okay, Harry, what happened with you and Seph? You've been acting strange whenever I mentioned her."

"We had a little disagreement and I said some things I shouldn't have," he quietly answered. My shoulders sagged.

"What did you say?"

"I told her I didn't want to be like her, always living in the past." I was surprised and disappointed he'd say such a thing.

"What made you say that? What were you two fighting over?"

"She was telling me I shouldn't go after Sirius," he told me in an even quieter voice.

"She's right, you shouldn't. Harry, we've all told you we think it's crazy and it probably won't even work. Promise me you won't do this. I know what your dad wrote, but even he never tried it," I pleaded.

"Why is everyone against me on this?" he queried as he pushed himself away from the table, his chair loudly scraping against the floor and groaning in protest.

"Because, Harry, life and death shouldn't be messed with. I know you miss him, but even your father wasn't exactly sure what was beyond the veil. If you were injured, she would never forgive herself. Don't do this to her. Seph has finally allowed herself to start living again. Do you really want to take it away from her?" I pleaded her case, trying not to think about what my life would be like if I lost him.

"But if I could give her Sirius back -"

"Who knows if it's what she wants now," I interjected. "She and Charlie are spending lots of time together, and with Connor. How could you do that to her, to him, to Connor?"

"Connor would have his daddy back!" I put my hands over my mouth and stared at him.

"Harry, what if something happens to you? How am I supposed go on without you?" I timidly asked through my fingers. He sat back down, pulling my hands away and holding them.

"Nothing is going to happen to me, Ginny. I promise."

"You can't know that." My emotions were jumbled, but I knew fear was the strongest at the moment. "Swear to me you won't do anything stupid. Swear you won't do this."

"I swear," he replied and I closed my eyes, thinking a small prayer of thanks.

"You need to apologize to Seph. What you said was out of line."

"I know," he reluctantly responded. "It's just… well, this happened a while ago, and I haven't figured out how to apologize yet."

"Harry, when did you two have your argument?" I was rather afraid of his answer.

"The day we returned from holiday break." My mouth fell open, aghast.

"Harry, that was nearly a month ago. That's it, you're going to apologize today," I told him as I stood up and walked over to the fireplace. I knew Charlie was home again, and he and Seph were taking Connor ice skating this afternoon. I threw some powder into the grate and stuck my head in, having it appear in my parents' kitchen. Within a few minutes I had arranged a double dinner date for Harry and me with Charlie, Seph and Connor at the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry quickly put things to rights with Seph when we arrived for supper. I loved watching how my brother had taken to little Connor, and how enamoured the boy was with Charlie. We'd been invited to go see the house in Wales tomorrow, and Connor couldn't wait to show us the tree house behind the cottage. Discussion then turned to our wedding.

"Are you sure you want to be married in less than six months?" Seph asked me. "It hardly seems like enough time to get everything together."

"What is there to do? I need a dress, we need some rings. Mum will want to take charge of the food and music and I think you and Harry can handle the beverages. I don't want a huge production like Bill and Fleur had; I just want our family and friends there to share in our happiness."

"Well, sis, if it's what you want, then I think that's what you should have," Charlie said. "I'll even help you handle Mum. Actually, your timing is good; Fleur will have had the baby. She'll be so fixated on being a grandmum you might get off easier than you would if you did it later." Laughter rang around the table.

"I didn't think about it that way, but I do believe you're right." I tipped the neck of my bottle toward him, and he gently clanked his against it. "I can't believe you named a beer after my brother and didn't tell me," I gently chastised my fiancé.

"I didn't realize it was named after Charlie either," he confessed, "at least not until I saw the labels."

"Really? So this was entirely your doing, Seph?" She blushed, which was all the answer I need.

"He helped me with it, hence the name," she quietly explained. "I believe in giving credit where credit is due." Charlie reached over Connor's head to stroke her cheek, making her blush even more.

"So, Connor, I've already asked you to be a ring bearer, along with Teddy," Harry said and Connor nodded. "But Gin and I were wondering if you two would be willing to stand up with us?"

"I'd be honoured, Harry," my brother replied. All of my brothers, along with Neville, would be standing up with us. Our wedding party was going to be huge, but I didn't care. We were going to be surrounded by those who supported us. I couldn't think of a better way to get married.

"Are you sure, Ginny?" Seph asked. "You must have school friends you rather want to stand with you?"

"I do and they will, but Seph, you're Harry's family and you've become a good friend," I explained. I left off how happy she was making Charlie and how I secretly hoped their relationship would continue to grow. "Please, say yes."

"How could I not to an offer so sweet? Thank you, the two of you have honoured me so," she quietly replied.

Connor tugged on Charlie's shirt sleeve and then motioned with his finger to lean down. The little boy whispered in my brother's ear and Charlie nodded in response.

"If you would excuse us for a moment," he said before lifting Connor up out of his booster chair and then headed to the back of the bar. Seph was stifling a laugh.

"What was that all about?" I wondered aloud.

"Connor is toilet training," his mum explained. "When Charlie's around he prefers to go to the men's room, rather than having to go with me. Your brother is willing to take him."

Seph bit her lip even as a smile crept across her face. I was so happy for them I could barely contain my joy.


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Note: Hello all, welcome back. We're still having some fluffy goodness with the next few chapters, but there are some very important developments in these chapters. Thanks to my team: Arnel, Stephanie and Ben, for whipping me into shape. The song is a classic, I used the Michael Buble version only because his voice makes me melt. (**Sigh**). Enjoy all. See you later this week. MNF**

**Chapter 25:**

**My Funny Valentine**

**February 12, 1999**

**Ginny POV:**

Even though I lived with Hermione and Luna, we rarely saw each other outside class or meals when we were in France. The way the dormitories were set up, if we wanted to revise alone we could. After deciding we'd come home for the weekend, I invited both of them, as well as Hannah, Padma and Susan to join us for a sleepover at the Burrow. George had moved back into his flat above the store and was generally doing better. Ron was hoping he'd be able to back off from his duties soon, and begin preparing to enter the Auror school in the fall. Charlie was home for the weekend too, but he basically used his bedroom as a place to sleep and change clothes. He rarely even ate here anymore. As far as I knew, he was spending his time in England with Seph or he was working on his house.

"Oh, that is just ugly," I remarked as I flipped the page in the Muggle wedding magazine. Susan and I were looking at bridesmaids dresses, little we were seeing was something to consider.

"Let me see," my fellow bride called and turned the page back and held it up for her to look at. "That is atrocious. What do they call that color? Vomit?" I turned the picture on its side so I could read the purchasing information which was along the crease.

"Spring bud," I replied through my laugh. "Won't work for us, neither of us are getting married in the spring."

"Ah, good," she joked back. Even the cut of the dress was unflattering. I kept flipping through the magazine, not finding anything I liked.

"Have you picked out a color yet?" Hermione asked. I knew she was worried about what I'd choose.

"I'm still leaning toward a sort of sea green," I explained to her. "Or a robin-egg blue. It will depend on what we find when we go out shopping. I'm pretty much open-minded though. I want something which looks good on you and the rest of my attendants."

"Thank you," she gushed. She had been in a family wedding two years ago, and the dress was a hot pink, short-skirted mess.

"After what I had to wear for Fleur's wedding," I made a disgusted face, "I will make sure all of you look good, too. The dress clashed with my hair."

"What about a style, Ginny?" Hannah asked. "My cousin had trouble because her attendants were all different sizes. Yours are all different heights. How are you going to make it work?" She was right; Hermione was shorter than I, as was Luna. Fleur and I were about the same height and Seph and Audrey was much taller than all of us. I hadn't really thought about it. Also, a dress Luna or Hermione might be willing to wear may be too immature looking for Seph.

"I don't know yet, but I'm not opposed to picking a color and then letting everyone choose a dress in a style which flatters their body. Fleur isn't even going to be able to go shopping until after the baby is born. Do any of you have any suggestions?"

"Do you want us to wear Muggle dresses or dress robes?" Hermione asked.

"I'm leaning toward dresses, since I want the wedding to be more informal. I really do not want an overblown affair. Family and friends sharing good food, beer and dancing. No media, no interviews, no photographers," I emphasized.

"Good luck with that," Susan remarked. "We get at least two or three calls a week asking to interview Harry. They'll call the brewery to get information about your wedding." I groaned when I heard this. "Don't worry, I don't tell them anything. Ms Gwynn made it perfectly clear when she hired me divulging personal news of any kind would get me fired. Gossip is forbidden."

"Thanks, and I'm sorry you need to deal with that." Susan pretended to bat away my apology, as if it were as real as a bug buzzing around her face.

"It's my job and it's not often. Otherwise, I love working at the brewery," she lifted her stein to her mouth and swallowed down one of the company's wares. "So did anyone else happen to catch the snogging action in the offices this morning?" She had a mischievous smile and the other girls shook their heads.

"Wait, I thought you just said you weren't going to gossip?"

"I don't gossip to anyone outside the brewery; however, everyone in this room is affiliated in some way, so it doesn't count," she countered. I giggled at her, as did everyone else.

"So, who did you catch snogging?"

"Charlie and Perri were rather passionately going at in on her couch, with the door wide open," Susan giggled. "I wondered if he was going to attempt to swallow her."

"Oh, don't pick on them," Hannah defended the pair, "they're so cute together. Perri's been whistling every day when she comes to check things in the Tap Room."

"She's working on something secret when she's in the potions room as well," Padma added. "I don't know what she's up to, but if it's as good at the new one she made last month, we are going to have another best seller."

I listened to everyone talk about my brother and his girlfriend, and relished the happy stories. Charlie had never had much luck with girls, and I knew his heart had been broken before. When Harry ended things between us right after Dumbledore's funeral, it had been Charlie I commiserated with over ice cream. Of all of my brothers, Charlie deserved a good woman in his life, and I was certain Seph was it.

"How do you feel about the two of them, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"I think they're great together, and they are good for each other. However, if you ever catch them doing more than snogging, please don't tell me. That's more information than any little sister should ever have!" Everyone laughed and it felt so good to be having a night like this. A year ago I wouldn't have imagined it could be.

Mum called from downstairs, telling us she had snacks and three of the girls stood up to get them from her, leaving me with Hermione and Luna. It was the perfect opportunity to discuss something more private with them.

"Hermione, I know you and Harry write to each other. Has he said anything else about his father's journals to you?" she shook her head.

"I know Ron and Neville had a talk with him, reminding him there were too many people depending on him to be reckless in his actions. He hasn't said anything since," she explained. I sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness. I don't know what I'd do if he did something stupid. Maybe he's given up the idea," I commented.

"I don't know," Luna remarked. "Harry doesn't usually let things go when he gets an idea in his head.' I knew she hadn't meant to, but her comment sucked the excitement right out of me.

"Ginny, we're just going to have to trust Harry," Hermione said as she took my hand and gave it a squeeze. The girls returning with food and drinks brought the conversation back to snogging, dresses and boys, but I couldn't suppress the nagging worry in the back of my mind.

"Stop it, Charlie! You're getting paint in my hair!" I screeched at him, even as I pulled my wand out and removed the green glob which had fallen on my crown. We were on the last room which needed work, the third and smallest of the bedrooms. The design of this room was intriguing. The background was a medium green color, and today he had me drawing intersecting vines all over one wall, which he would paint in on another day. He'd also purchased a set of bunk beds for the room as well.

"Charlie, what are planning to do with this room?"

"Well, I thought it would be good if Connor had a room for himself at my house," he told me. "Seph and I are spending a lot of time together and the little guy still needs to nap in the afternoon. This way he has his own room to do it in."

"You have it bad, big brother," I gently teased and he just made a silly smile on his face and nodded. "Have you talked with Seph about it?"

"I wanted to surprise her," he told me. "It's not like I'm going to be living here for another month, but I can see both of them spending time with me." I put down my quill and wand and pulled him into a hug.

"You have no idea how happy I am for you," I quietly explained. "You are very good for her, too. I don't remember her ever being so relaxed."

"I hope so, Gin. She hasn't had it very easy. She definitely deserves to live happily now." There was a devotion in his voice which I recognized from the way Dad talked about Mum and Bill used when he spoke of Fleur. I picked up my tools from the stool I'd laid them on and returned to work.

"So, have you decided what you're going to do next year?"

"I have, I think," I answered. Harry chose that moment to return from the sink in the cellar where he'd left the brushes he used to complete the trim. Once the walls were done only the ceiling remained.

"I couldn't even get the paint to come out using magic," he complained. "This stuff is just too thick."

"Don't worry about it, Harry. This is the last room, and I swear if I never paint another wall again, it will be too soon. Explains why Mum and Dad haven't changed the paint at home since I was a kid. This is just too much work," Charlie stated. "So, sis, what are you doing next year?"

"Well, this spring I'm going to be trying out for the professional Quidditch squads. I love it so much, and I figure this is right time in my life to go for it," I explained.

"Ginny, that's bloody brilliant. Had I not been accepted into the dragon program right out of Hogwarts, I probably would have tried as well." He leaned down and kissed my head, not too far from where the paint blob was on me.

"What about you, Harry? Going to keep brewing beer? Play Quidditch? Join Ron at the Auror school?" I was anxious to hear Harry's answer as well. We hadn't discussed this much.

"Well, I'll always be involved with the brewery in some way. I like how it connects me to my parents and Sirius," he explained and I saw something flicker in my brother's eye when Harry's godfather was mentioned. It disappeared as quickly as it came. "But, I really haven't decided if I want to play Quidditch or become an Auror. Thankfully, I don't need to decide this just yet."

"True, true, but don't leave it too long. You'll have a wife you need to support soon," Charlie joked.

"Not a problem there, mate," Harry responded in the same light tone.

"Harry, Charlie, Ginny, are you here?" Seph was somewhere in the house calling for us. I hadn't realized she'd be here today.

"We're in the little bedroom, love," Charlie called back to her. "I wonder why she's here? She was supposed to be working all day."

"She was going to some festival," Harry explained. "If Gin hadn't come home, and if it wasn't Valentine's weekend, I would have been with her." Seph's rapid footsteps clapped along the wood floors, and she breezed into the room. She looked amazing. Her hair was pulled up into a curly ponytail, making her look younger than her years. She was wearing a grey pencil skirt with a flare at her knees, her white button down with the company logo on it and those super high red peep-toe pumps. I seriously coveted those shoes.

"What happened, sweetheart? Where's Connor?" Charlie asked as his hands settled on her waist. Seph had a pair of medals in her hands.

"Connor's at home with Elizabeth," she explained. "I just came from the beer contest. Harry, we won two awards. The _Caramel Double-Cream Stout_ won best in contest and the _She Said Yes!_ won the lambic category. Both are going to the Independent Brewers Nationals in April!" She threw her arms around Charlie and hugged him tightly. She then hugged Harry and me. I was careful to only touch her with the heels of my hands as my fingers were quiet dirty.

"That is amazing, love," Charlie gushed at her before kissing her forehead. "Tell you what, I think we should all go and celebrate? We could go to the _Rose and Crown_?"

"We're already going out tomorrow," Seph sounded disappointed even as she said it. "I've been gone all day. I don't want to leave Connor with Elizabeth tonight, and then have him spend tomorrow night at your parents."

"So, we bring him along," Charlie suggested and Seph beamed.

"Really? You don't mind?"

"Seph, he's my favorite little tyke. You two are a package deal, and we should celebrate that way," he told her and I couldn't help but smile with her. She stretched her neck and kissed him quickly. It was the first time I'd ever seen them kiss. They weren't big on the public displays of affection.

"I'm going to head home, change and get Connor ready. Should we meet you here or at the pub?"

"Go to the pub," he explained. "Water still isn't on here, so I'll go to the Burrow and change."

"Sounds perfect. Harry, thank you, you really have breathed new life into the company," she told him before she kissed his cheek. She floated out of the room and then the house with as much energy as she'd come in with.

"Do you think she noticed the room?" I wondered aloud.

"I don't think she was paying a bit of attention," Charlie remarked and we all began cleaning up for a night of celebration.


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Note: Another Thursday, another chapter! The song is by Michael Buble. Thanks to Arnel, Steph and Ben for everything. MNF**

**Chapter 26:**

**A Foggy Day in London Town**

**March 13, 1999**

**Harry POV:**

"You gotta see it, Unca Harwy," Connor implored as he took me by the hand and pulled me through the cottage. "Dere's v-v-vines on de wawls and a monkey in a net over de bed." Seph had started urging Connor to pronounce his sounds more correctly, and I was proud of how hard he was trying.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, buddy. Good pronunciation, Connor. The 'v' was very good."

"Sanks, Unca Harwy!" His eyes were bright as he looked up at me. My name had some more work to do, but at least there was an 'r' sound in it now. "Come on, Charwie say de room for me, but I share wit you if you want."

"That's the best offer I've had in a long time, Connor. Maybe I'll take you up on it someday," I told him and he jumped a little as he pulled me through the house. I knew which room was 'his', I'd helped to paint the vines on the walls and build the bunk beds. It surprised me that Charlie went to so much trouble for Connor. I thought he and Seph were just friends or maybe a bit more, but certainly not enough for him to give Connor a bedroom at his house. It bothered me a little. It felt like Seph was forgetting Sirius, and letting Connor do the same. My godfather deserved better.

"Der it is," the little boy pulled me into the green room. "I sink it's awesome!" Connor let go of my hand and went to the ladder along the side of the beds and climbed up into the top bunk. Charlie had gone all out on the 'jungle' theme for the room: green walls with painted on vines, a tiger hiding behind a bush just under the window which overlooked the back garden, and tall giraffes with their necks parallel to the door while their faces touched over it. I knew Ginny was artistic, but I had no idea she could paint this well. I hadn't noticed it before, but there were even small dragons flying around in the clouds painted on the ceiling.

"It's definitely awesome, Connor. You're one lucky boy."

"I knows," he replied while nodding. "Before I only had my Mummy, now I've got my Mummy, my Charwie, my Unca Harwy, Ginny, Mrs. Molwy and Mr. Arfur. I even get my Daddy wooking at me from heaven."

"That's a lot of people for one little boy to love," Ginny said as she entered the room. "Are you up to it?"

Connor nodded. "I work harwd to wove dem all."

"Excellent, we are all lucky to have you loving us, too. Mum just came over and I think if you go ask her, she might just have a surprise for you in her sack," she explained.

"Unca Harwy, can you hewlp me down? Mrs. Molwy surprises aways good." He put his little arms out and I picked him off the top bunk and 'flew' him down to the floor. He ran from the room, calling to Mrs. Weasley the whole way. "Hello, beautiful," I greeted Gin before kissing her.

"Hi yourself, handsome." She kissed me right back.

"Do you know what the surprise is?" Ginny nodded.

"Dragon-shaped sugar biscuits. She baked a huge tin full of them to bring over, along with soup and bread for lunch. Bill and Percy are at the Burrow with Dad, shrinking some of the furniture so that it can be brought over. I never realized Mum had all of her brothers' things up in the attic. Good thing the ghoul never got at them and broke everything to bits. They were only the size of doll furniture up there," she paused for a moment, looking around. "This room looks really good. Who knew Percy had it in him. I always thought I was the only one who could draw or paint."

"What do you mean Percy? I thought you did this?"

"I did the vines, but Percy did the tiger and the giraffes. I didn't even know he knew about Muggle animals. Apparently he and Audrey went to the London Zoo for the day, just so he could watch them," she explained. "I think it's neat Charlie went with Muggle animals, rather than magical ones. Connor explained the zoo is one of his favorite places, and he wants to grow up to live in the jungles and take care of the animals, just like Charlie takes care of dragons."

"Seems like a lot of trouble to go for a room Connor isn't going to use that often," I grumbled as I sat down on the lower bunk, my head scraping the upper bunk.

"I don't know, Harry. Now that Charlie's closer, I think he and Seph are going to spend even more time together. I'm sure that will include Connor. It's a really sweet gesture, if you ask me," she continued. I shrugged. "What's with you, Harry? In December you were all for them going to the party together and I know you convinced Seph to come over on New Years. What's different now?"

"I wanted her to have a nice evening. I wasn't expecting her to fall in love with him," I quietly replied.

"We don't even know that's what happened," Ginny quickly retorted, her voice going up in pitch. It was something which happened when she was upset with me. "Even if it is, we should be happy for them. They both have been alone for a long time."

"But her heart belongs to someone else. She told me so." Ginny's face was starting to turn red, and not because she was blushing.

"I'm quite certain part of her will always love Sirius, but he's gone. She and Connor need someone living to be part of their lives." Her pitch continued to go up.

"So what, you think it's okay for your brother to push his way into her life? Do you think he should take the place of Connor's father?" I had stood up again, putting my hands on my hips. Ginny glared at me.

"I don't know." She'd lowered the volume on her voice to near a whisper, but the words were so clipped and her jaw so firmly set it didn't indicate a decrease in her anger. "It's really not our business, is it? They're both adults and they've been very careful with Connor's feelings."

"Sure, just push his dad out of his mind," I seethed back.

Ginny made a disgusted noise. "You don't think Charlie could fill those shoes? I don't need him to tell me to know he loves that little boy. Look around you, only someone who cares would go to this much trouble."

"A boy should have his father! Connor needs Sirius!"

"Sirius is gone, Harry."

"Only because Seph is forgetting about him and urging Connor to do the same thing."

Ginny looked at me puzzled for a moment. "Are you sure this is about Connor and not about you?"

I waved my hand at her and turned around. "This has nothing to do with me, it has to do with Seph and Connor and what they need. Anyway, Charlie is too young for her," I threw in. I saw how people looked at the pair when they were together at brewery functions.

"Harry, you know that isn't true. Maybe if they were younger it would matter, but they're both adults with their eyes completely open," she threw back. Her hand was on my shoulder and she turned me back around and stared into my eyes. I had no idea what she was looking for, but it made me uncomfortable.

"You haven't given up on going after Sirius, have you?" I turned away from her gaze.

"I haven't done anything," I told her. It was the truth. No action had been taken.

"That doesn't mean you haven't stopped thinking about it." I kept my back to her and didn't say anything. "Harry," she started but then never finished. I could hear the tears in her one word. "You know how I, and just about everyone else, feels about this. Don't ruin everyone's day with your delusions. Everybody is happy here, and they have the right to be."

Ginny left the room, sliding the pocket door shut behind her. I sat down on the lower bed again, wondering why this was so upsetting to me. Charlie made Seph happy, something so much of her life was lacking in. It just felt wrong in the pit of my stomach. It felt like she was betraying her love for Sirius and it really felt like she was trying to replace him in Connor's life. Sirius's son deserved to know just how special his daddy was.

I sat there until loud voices in the hallway alerted me that I might be needed elsewhere in the house. Sure enough, when I opened the door Ron and George were trying to move a large brass headboard into the bedroom across the hall.

"Need a hand, mates?"

"Definitely," George replied. "Ron's not keeping his end up."

"Yes, I am."

"Then why is it dragging on the floor. You've made two gouges in the planking already." I went to help Ron with his end of the bed, noting the large marks in the otherwise pristine floor. Once we had this in place I'd come back out and fix it.

"Why didn't you leave it shrunk until after we got it into the room?" I asked as we tried to navigate the corner turn.

"It wasn't ever small, Harry. Charlie wanted a larger bed, so he bought this one in town. We had to borrow a lorry from the Ministry to get it here," George explained. "We couldn't shrink it in front of the Muggles." That made sense, but why they didn't shrink it once it was in the house still puzzled me.

"I didn't know any of you had a driver's license?"

"We don't," Ron answered. "You just charm the thing to make it look like you're driving. I have to drive it back to London tonight. It's over three damned hours to get there. I hate being the youngest."

"I'll ride with you, Ron," I offered. He was my best mate and we shared a house. I could share a lorry with him for a few hours. Perhaps he'd see what I was saying about Charlie and help me with a way to remind his brother he wasn't Connor's dad.

"Thanks, mate."

We moved the brass behemoth into the bedroom and went for the footboard and then finally the mattress and springs. By the time all four parts were inside, I was hot, sweaty and thirsty. I'd left my drinking glass in the kitchen and went to retrieve it. I could hear voices inside and hesitated interrupting them.

"He's so excited," Seph said. "Thank you, for everything."

"Love, I'd do anything to see you smile like that," Charlie answered.

"I seem to be doing it much more regularly now," she answered.

"Do I have anything to do with that?" It was a playful question and whatever Seph did precipitated the sounds of snogging. I walked into the kitchen, interrupting their romantic moment. They both blushed when they heard me enter and retrieve my glass.

"Just needed a drink," I explained and they nodded.

"Harry, thanks for your help today and for the last few weeks," Charlie said as he thrust his hand toward me. "I wouldn't have gotten the house ready without you." I put my hand in his.

"Family helps with stuff like this," I told him. "It was something Sirius had taught me. I'm sure my parents would have agreed." Seph closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Charlie dropped my hand.

"You're right, Harry. Your parents were very supportive of their friends and family. They believed if someone was in need, then you helped. They also believed if someone were happy you fostered that happiness," Seph said in a strange voice.

"Of course," I answered and finished filling my glass and left the kitchen.


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: Hi all! The chapter takes its title from the Beatles song. Enjoy. MNF**

**Chapter 27:**

**Birthday**

**Saturday, March 27**

**Ginny POV:**

"Ginny, sweetie, if you're coming home so often, how are you doing with your revisions?" Seph asked as we sat at one of the tables in the Tap Room. Harry had insisted we have Teddy's first birthday party here, since Andromeda's house was small and wouldn't fit all the grown-up friends of their parents who wanted to be with the little boy as he celebrated. Seph had agreed to delay the opening of the Tap Room until four in the afternoon to facilitate the celebration. The room was packed with people who knew and loved Remus and Tonks, and therefore their son.

"How could I not come home this weekend?" I asked. "Last night you celebrated the MMB's brews being offered in my brother's shop and today is little Teddy's first birthday. I'm his de-facto godmother, I had to be here."

"There's nothing de-facto about your relationship with him," she corrected and I felt good about how she described me. "You're essentially Connor's as well, even though his baptism was done in private. Remus and Tonks were his godparents, but ... I'm so happy you and Harry are in his life. He loves the two of you so much."

"We love him too, Seph. He brings out only good things in Harry." Our conversation was interrupted by Connor coming over and pulling himself onto the chair with his mum.

"Hi, Ginny, you wook pretty," he told me as his little hand reached over and patted my arm. "You feewl soft."

"Thank you," I replied. "Your Mummy gave me this jumper for Christmas. It's made of cashmere."

"What dat?"

"It's a specific kind of goat hair," Seph explained. Connor scrunched up his little nose and looked at his mum puzzled.

"You give her old goat hair? Dey smell bad." We laughed at his remark.

"Not exactly," Seph corrected. "They comb the goats' fur, collect what falls out, and then spin it into wool and then someone knitted the jumper." Connor nodded as if he understood. "When did you smell a goat?"

"When my Charwie took me to see the dragons. Dey eat goats. Deir barn smewled bad."

"I see," Seph answered. "Have you spent time with Teddy? It is his party after all."

"I did, Mummy. We rowled a bawl back and forf. I promised I eat cake wif him."

"Well, we should be having the cake soon. I heard him saying your name earlier, that's pretty special. The only other name he can say is his grandma's."

"He cwose," Connor explained. "He say Conr for my name and Gam for his grandma. Why don't I have a grandma?"

"Well, your Daddy's mother passed away long before you were born, and my mom, your Grammy MacPhearson died just after you were born. You can go talk with her picture, remember?"

"It not de same," he sadly said.

I reached over and took his hand.

"Hey, what about Mrs. Molwy? She my Charwie's mummy. Could she be my grammy?" Seph froze and looked at me, panicked.

"Connor, as much as I think my mum would love to have you call her that, Charlie needs to be your daddy for that to happen," I explained. "Why don't you keep calling her Mrs. Molly, but you can hug and kiss her like she's your grammy." He smiled at the answer and Seph seemed relieved that he accepted my suggestion.

"Mummy," Connor said as he squirmed around in her lap to look at her in the face, "will Charwie be my daddy someday?"

"I'm not sure," Seph answered in a very calm and quiet voice. "How would it make you feel if he were?"

Connor pursed his lips together and squinted his little eyes while he thought. "Would I get to keep my pic'ters of my Daddy? Wiwl I still get to tawk to him at night?"

"Sweetheart, neither Charlie nor I would ever take away your Daddy's pictures or his things from your room. You can also look at my memories of your Daddy whenever you want, just like you have been. He will always be your father, even if he's not with us. I promise," Seph answered, tears forming in her eyes. Connor thought a moment longer and then started to nod his head.

"Den it be okay. I wike Charwie as my awive daddy. You gonna make Charwie my daddy soon?"

Seph began to shake her head quickly. "We don't have any plans to make Charlie your daddy any time soon. I just wanted to know what you thought about it."

"'kay," he said with a little shrug. "Wook, Doma is cuttin' the cake. I want some!" As quickly as he came over, he was gone.

"I really hope Andromeda gives him a piece with a small amount of icing. Otherwise he'll be wearing more than he eats," Seph joked and I laughed with her.

"So, are you and Charlie that serious?" I attempted to mask my excitement. I really wanted Seph to be my sister-in-law.

Seph looked down and made a humming noise. "I don't know, sort of. We're spending lots of time together and Connor simply adores him. Charlie treats me like I'm a queen and it feels so good. Time with him is easy and comfortable. He helps me feel more alive than I've felt in so long. I think it's too soon for us to be discussing permanency to our relationship or making it official and legal."

"Is that how you see marriage, as something official and legal?" I asked. I always had thought of marriage as a way to express your devotion.

"I've never seen the point," she confessed. "Sirius and I were of the same mindset on this. It's why we never married. I didn't need to have a minister or magistrate sign a document to ensure my love."

"Does Charlie agree with you?" I couldn't imagine my brother did. I knew for certain my mother didn't think that way. Regardless of how much Mum liked Seph, if she and Charlie were going to be permanent, she'd expect a wedding.

"I don't think so. Ginny, it's not that I'm against marriage, it's just, with the way I was raised and then everything that happened…it's not my dream anymore. I'd rather have a loving relationship than a sheet of parchment," she explained with trepidation in her voice. "Anyway, it's far too soon to be talking about such things. We've only been together for a few months."

"Mum always told me when you find the right one, you'll know, and love will come easily," I shared. Seph blushed, which made me want to stand up and cheer. "You are in love with my brother."

"I..." she hesitated. "I don't… well, maybe. Neither of us has said it, but I definitely feel something very strong toward him." I wasn't sure she meant to say it out loud, as her voice was no more than a whisper. I wanted to leap out of my chair and hug her, but a certain six foot tall, long haired ginger had just entered the Tap Room and was headed straight for Seph.

"Speak of the devil," I mumbled and Seph turned around, still absolutely beet-red in a blush that would rival any of my siblings.

"Hey, squirt," he greeted me, using his pet nickname from when we were kids. "Hello, beautiful." I received a fist bump, Seph was given a brush of his hand across her cheek and then over her lips. I didn't understand why they just didn't kiss, but they were very chaste when in public.

"I'm going to go get some cake," I told them, vacating the chair next to Seph. "Either of you want some?" Charlie sat down where I'd just been, pulling his seat closer to hers and putting his hand on her knee.

"Sure, bring us back some," Seph replied even though her eyes never left my brother's. I had no doubt they were in love. Harry was standing next to Andromeda, helping to cut the cake while she was monitoring the boys sitting at their little table next to her. Harry had bought the kid sized table and chairs as part of Teddy's birthday present. They'd already been put to good use. From the looks on their faces, I suspected a conversation about something other than cake was going on.

"I just don't know," Harry said. "It's all happening fast." I sighed as I heard him. I assumed the conversation was about Charlie and Seph. For someone who had been so excited about it in the beginning, he seemed less thrilled now. In fact, out of everyone who knew the pair, Harry had become the biggest naysayer.

"Harry, you've only known Seph for a few months, I've known her since she was a girl. She was always reserved in her behavior and emotions, even as a child. When she was with Sirius they had to be so careful because of all the turmoil which swirled around them. There's a lightness in her now which wasn't ever there before. In many ways, this relationship has given her a youthfulness she was denied."

"You think she cares for him more than she did for Sirius?" Harry asked and I wanted to reach over and shake some sense into him. Thankfully, Andromeda answered instead.

"You're trying to compare two very different things. Sirius and Persephone were very young, it was their first love, but there was always something hanging over them. She's different now. What you're witnessing there are two adults discovering they don't have to do everything alone. They remind me so of my Dora and her Remus." I'd never thought of it that way, but I suppose in many ways my brother was affecting Seph's life the way Tonks did for Remus.

"But, it's like she's replacing Sirius in her life and in Connor's," he pouted. I hate when Harry gets like this. He's like a bulldog who's protecting his bone. Connor looked up when Harry said his name, and beamed at him with a messy, icing-saturated smile. Harry didn't notice so I ruffled his hair. He went back to his cake, ignoring the adults and their conversation.

"Harry, she's not replacing him," I interjected. "She's very aware of what it would mean for her and for Connor to have someone in her life. She won't let her son forget his father, but she's not opposed to having someone else in life to do the things with him that Sirius can't. Come on, we should go talk." I took him by the hand and pulled him into the kitchen. I leaned against the prep table while Harry pouted and then glared.

"Harry, you have to stop this," I pleaded with him. "You're hurting her feelings every time you bring Sirius up. It's embarrassing the way you goad her, especially since you know she's never going to say anything back."

"Ginny, you don't know anything about this." I'd heard this answer before. He was going to try to make me back down. I wasn't planning on doing so.

"I know everything about this. I just had a long conversation with Seph about it. She's falling in love with Charlie and I'm fairly certain he's already in love with her. They make each other happy, and they take good care of Connor. She's done nothing to remove Sirius from Connor's life. And just so you know, he thinks of it as having two daddies; one living and one watching him from heaven. Why can't you just let this go and let them be happy?"

"I just don't want them to forget. She's the best link I have to him and my parents, and now… why does she have to pick someone other than Sirius?" Petulant Harry whined too much for my taste.

"Harry, a few months ago you were complaining she lived in the past, now she's looking forward and you're still complaining. Would you rather see her alone and clinging to a memory?"

Harry said nothing, but scuffed his trainer on the floor. Fear suddenly gripped me.

"You do remember the promise you made me, right?" Harry nodded his head and I felt somewhat relieved. This wasn't the place to have this discussion, but I couldn't help feeling perhaps Harry hadn't given up on following in his father's footsteps. "Please, for me, can you not bring up any more of this nonsense here today? It's little Teddy's birthday. You're his godfather, and **he** needs someone to fill the void left by **his** father's death. Please, let the rest of it go," I begged him and his shoulders slumped.

"Fine," he acquiesced. I stood in front of him and kissed him.

"Good, now are we going to go give him the rest of his gift? You know how excited he's going to be when he sees his broom and the flying gear you got for him!"

"It's what my godfather gave me for my first birthday. Mum hated him for it," he quipped back, finally acting like he was having a good time.

"I doubt she actually hated him for it," I slyly rebutted. "Everyone loved Sirius, even if he was a tad reckless." Harry made a noncommittal noise before taking my hand and pulling me back to the party. I said a quiet prayer that he'd keep his word and drop his opposition to Charlie and Seph. I looked across the way and smile at them. Charlie's hand was on her back and they were both listening to whatever the icing-covered Connor was telling them with all the attention they had.


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Note: You're in luck, it's a triple post week. The song is by Oliver Boyd and the Rememberalls, and I am simply in love with his music. I thank my team for their support. Enjoy, MNF**

**Chapter 28:**

**Bridge to the Other Side**

**April 3, 1999**

**Harry POV;**

I stepped away from the Floo inside the Atrium at the Ministry, surprised at just how empty it was at six in the morning. Of course, I was counting on it being empty, but there wasn't another soul in sight. Adjusting the strap of my rucksack on my shoulder, I made my way to the lifts. Closing the gate, I told the car where to go, and with unsettling speed I was off.

The Department of Mysteries was as empty as it had been the night my friends and I had come to save Sirius. We weren't successful then. I would be today. I would bring him back first, and then if everything went as planned, I could bring my parents and Remus and Tonks back as well. I'd finally have my family. Connor and Teddy could have their daddies back. Seph would be with the one she loved. This was as much for them as it was for me.

Arriving at the Department of Mysteries, I asked for the door to the Death Chamber and the doors spun to allow me access. I took a deep breath, calmed myself and then pulled the door open.

The whispers from behind the veil were louder than I'd remembered, or maybe it was just due to how much more death I'd seen. I could make out individual voices this time, one sounding distinctly like my memories of my dad.

"Harry, stop. You don't know what you're doing." The words echoed in the room. I stopped for a second, listening harder, but nothing more was said.

"Get a grip, Harry," I chastised myself aloud. "No one is here, therefore, there's no one to speak to you." I made my way down to the dais and took the rucksack off my shoulder and set it on the ground. I began pulling the necessary items from inside, first withdrawing and then slipping on Sirius' motorbike jacket. It was remarkable how well it fit. The leather was well worn; soft and pliable. It still smelled like him, nearly three years after his death. As much as I liked it, I would be thrilled to return it to its rightful owner today.

Next came the picture of Sirius I'd nicked from one of the albums Seph had. She'd taken it one day while they were working at the Muggle brewery. He was making a sour face while standing in the cask room. I suspected whatever they were making didn't taste as good as he'd hoped. He'd react to the taste and pucker up, realize the picture had been taken by Seph and laugh. Over and over I watched the few ordinary seconds from his life, anxious to share more of them with him.

Retrieving the phial from the rucksack, I carefully set it aside. While I'd done fine in potions, I wasn't an expert. This had been a difficult one to brew, timing was everything and it had to be done when the moon was waning, and having the perfect balance of amaranth, dittany of Crete and wormwood. Under normal circumstances, I would have asked Hermione for help. This situation wasn't normal. She, along with everyone else in my life, didn't want me going after Sirius. They claimed it was too dangerous. I was alone in my work. They'd be thanking me when I'd brought him home.

Finally, I took the cypress wood and frankincense out and piled the small logs together, sliding the frankincense in the open spaces. The pyre was directly under the archway.

"_Incendio_," I whispered to start the fire. It was a particularly good smelling fire from the incense and the fragrant wood. I put a charm up around it, so the flames wouldn't spread. The smoke wasn't impeded by the spell. It curled and swirled around, the thick line dividing at the curtain and half disappearing. Dad's notes claimed the smoke carried the message to the other side.

Pulling the stopper from the phial, I carefully poured it over the picture, making sure to cover the entire surface. When the liquid had soaked into the photo, I laid the picture upon the pyre and watched as it began to burn. Assured the image was fully enflamed, I closed my eyes and began repeating his name. Dad's notes said I would know immediately if the spell had worked.

I lost myself in the chanting of his name, imagining how happy he'd be to see it was me who had called him back. I knew he'd be proud of me. Just like he'd done difficult magic to get to me from Azkaban, I was doing this now, to bring him home again.

"Harry," an unmistakable voice called to me, and I opened my eyes to see my godfather standing in the archway.

"I did it! Sirius, I did it!" I cheered even as I withdrew my wand and sent the Patronus message to Seph to come and join me. There'd be no way she could deny it was a good idea when she had her love and the father of her son back. I reached into the rucksack for the last item, a gift for the one who'd been called. The pair of chilled bottles of _Hair__of__the__Dog_ was the perfect thing. "Here, Sirius, come all the way through and we can toast your return."

"I'm not coming through, Harry," he told me in a calm, but irritated voice.

"I don't understand. Didn't I cast the spell correctly? I mean, you're here, so I must have done it right -"

"You followed your father's instructions perfectly," he explained. "I, however, am not coming back. It's far too dangerous."

"What? What do you mean? There's nothing about danger in his journal. My Dad would have mentioned if it were dangerous." I was beginning to get irritated. Why wasn't he coming back? He had every right to come back.

"It wouldn't have been in your Dad's journals," he explained. "It was only after his death that they found out how dangerous doing this would be." Sirius wasn't making sense. Who is 'they'? Before I could ask him anything, Seph came running into the chamber. She took one look at me, the fire, and Sirius standing in the archway before her knees gave out and she fell to the floor. I stood there, unsure of what to make from her reaction. "Go help her, Harry," he directed and I jogged to her, putting my arm around her shoulders and helping her up.

"Oh, God, Harry, what have you done?" she mumbled.

"I brought him back," I explained. "So you and Connor can have a whole family." She started to shake her head even as her breathing became uneven and she began to weep. We reached the foot of the dais, but she refused to go any higher.

"You know you can't come through," she quietly stated.

"I know. I wouldn't have even come this far if it wasn't for my fear that Harry would continue to try until I answered him," Sirius said.

"Wait, what are you two talking about? Of course you're going to come through. Bollocks, you have a son! Get out here and be his Dad!" I yelled.

"Harry James you will not speak to us that way," Sirius rebuked. I felt as if I had been punched in the gut. "Are you going to be okay?" He directed the question at Seph, who had slid to the floor, half lying on the foot of the dais.

"I'll be fine, it was just a surprise to see you," she explained. "He's right, we have a son. I'm sorry I didn't know I was pregnant before you died."

"I've witnessed the whole thing. I've seen him and you're doing such a good job. He's a great kid," Sirius explained.

"He is," Seph agreed. "I tell him he's the best parts of you and me. He talks to you every night. Do you hear him?"

"I do, please don't let him stop."

"I won't. I'll make sure he understands you do hear him. You should be headed back. I don't remember how long we have before the arch will begin to react."

"James is here, out of sight. He said he'll pull me back when it's needed," Sirius explained and Seph nodded.

"Wait, Dad's there? What about Mum? Can I see them? Will they come with you?" I started yelling. This wasn't working the way I'd planned. I still didn't understand why Sirius hadn't come through the veil.

"No, Harry, you're not going to see them and they won't be crossing over either. Harry, it's not safe for us to even be communicating as we are. Death is a one way trip. We can't come back, nor do we want to," he explained.

"I WANT YOU TO COME BACK," I screamed. "I NEED YOU. I NEED MY FAMILY. WHY CAN'T YOU JUST COME BACK FOR ME? I OPENED THE DAMNED DOOR, ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS WALK THROUGH IT!"

Seph reached for my hand and held tight to it. I didn't know why they weren't doing what I wanted them to.

"Don't you want to be with me?" I asked, the reality of his refusal hitting me. None of them wanted to be with me. They were happier where they were.

"Harry, there isn't a day that I don't wish I were there with you, Seph and Connor. I love the three of you so much, but I can't come back. Traveling through the veil is much harder than...I don't have time to explain it all to you now. Gwen, love, will you tell him everything, please?"

"I will," Seph answered.

"Harry, know that you are loved and watched over. Know that we miss you so much. You will always have us, and when you need to, you can lean on your memories of us. We promise we will never really leave you," he told me. I turned my back on him; I didn't want him to see the angry tears which were forming.

"Gwenny, my dearest, I miss you so much," he said. I wondered why he called Seph, Gwen.

"I miss you too, every day," she replied.

"I know you've fallen in love again," he stated. "I'm glad. You shouldn't be alone forever. He's a good man, and he treats you well and he loves my boy, too. Be happy, please." Sirius wanted Seph with Charlie? I wouldn't ever be happy seeing Ginny with anyone else. How could he claim to still love her and tell her to be with someone else?

"Thank you," she quietly replied. "I always suspected you would want me to live my life to the fullest. I love you, part of me always will." Seph was crying, though she wasn't embarrassed by her tears. "Go, I'll explain everything to him. Give the others my love and tell them they're missed as well."

"I will. Harry, I'm sorry to have disappointed you. One day you'll understand this is for the best." I turned around to see Sirius disappear into wherever he was.

"Sirius, no, come back!" I called, wanting to charge up to the curtain. Seph caught my leg, causing me to tumble down onto the rock.

"Harry, you can't. You go through that veil and you're gone for good. Ginny needs you, Teddy needs you, Connor needs you," she paused and I let my muscles go slack. "I need you."

"I just wanted him..." she crawled up to me and cradled me in her arms.

"Sweetheart, I know. You wanted the people you love to come back to you." She rocked me like she did her small son. I suddenly felt so tired and alone. I didn't like it.

"Harry, I'd like to stay here and comfort you, but we need to get out of here. Your spell has destabilized the arch, and I'm afraid it's going to fall. We need to leave. We have to prepare for the Magical Law Enforcement people as well. They're going to have so many questions for us," she began rambling even as she released me and began cleaning up. She doused the fire and then made the logs disappear with the now empty potion phial.

Picking up my rucksack, she offered me her hand and attempted to pull me up. I outweighed her, so I did most of the work myself. As we reached the door, there was a rumbling noise from the center of the room.

"What's happening?" I yelled over the noise.

"Those on the other side aren't happy the connection was opened. The last time we tried this it nearly fell from the pressure they put on it," she told me hastily.

"The last time? What are you talking about?"

"Harry, I told you not to do this, but you didn't listen. We don't have time for me to explain it right now, but I will. Now, we need to get you home. Come on," she said as she dragged me to the lifts and slammed the gate shut. I'd seen many things in her face before, but this was the first time I saw unfettered fear.


	29. Chapter 29

**Author's Note: The aftermath begins here, and the depth of Harry's actions is starting to be seen. The chapter song is by Adele, I am just in love with her newest album. We're back to normal posting schedule next week. Thanks to my team and to all of you for reading. See you Monday. MNF**

**Chapter 29:**

**One and Only**

**Persephone POV:**

I had whisked Harry and me out of the Ministry, dropping him at Grimmauld Place before I went to MMB 2. I'd Apparated directly into my office and then sealed the door. I didn't need my employees hearing me fall apart. I assumed I had about an hour before the Magical Law Enforcement personnel would be here to investigate what Harry had done. My only hope was to convince them it was a youthful indiscretion; a stupid choice by someone who wasn't thinking clearly. I didn't know how extensive the damage he'd done to the archway was. I prayed it could be repaired. I couldn't even begin to contemplate if this weren't the case. Financial reparations might not be enough.

I tapped my watch with my wand, setting the alarm to go off in fifteen minutes; a self-imposed limit on my weeping. I lie down on the couch and let the misery escape me. Seeing him again, having him that close ... it was painful. I was glad to know he knew about Connor and could watch him grow up. He would have made a brilliant father. I was so shocked by his comments about Charlie. I wasn't sure if the tables had been turned I'd be so magnanimous.

I couldn't get a hold on my feelings. I was understandably angry at Harry, as well as disappointed in him. There was longing from seeing Sirius so close, but it was far less overwhelming than I'd anticipated. I was feeling worried as well, uncertain what the future was going to hold for Harry and me. There was something else, however, and I couldn't quite put a name to it.

The charm went off on my watch, and I sat up. Running my fingers through my hair, I calmed myself down. A wave of the wand across my face cleaned up the blotchy skin and swollen and red eyes. When I received Harry's message, I hadn't even bothered to put make up on or finish my hair. I would need to do these things immediately.

"Get a grip, Seph. You need to prepare for what comes next. Harry is going to need you," I told myself. I know speaking aloud to oneself is generally considered a sign of mental illness, but I didn't give it a second thought. Hearing the words aloud cemented my resolve. I stood and went to my desk and pulled out my personal address book to look for Christopher Houghton's information.

Eliza's brother was a well known wizarding barrister, specializing in criminal defense. Harry was going to need his assistance, and he was the only living person who had ever worked on a case like this. We were on friendly terms, often meeting up to discuss his sister's care. Connor and I were friendly with his wife and children, and we came together several times a year to socialize.

Chris had an unusual law office. One side was the Muggle area: a receptionist, computers, telephones. If you passed through his office closet, you entered the wizarding office. He had attended law school at Oxford and at the wizarding law university, Swyn Cyfraith. The majority of his clientele were witches and wizards who found themselves in trouble in the Muggle world, and the crimes could not be entirely reversed with magic. The perpetrators would often need to stand trial in both courts.

I flipped to the page which had his work information and pulled my cell phone from my handbag and called his Muggle office. It was only just past eight, but knowing Chris, he would already be in, especially on a Friday. It was to be a beautiful weekend, and if Chris were true to form, he'd leave his office early, visit his sister and then take his family to Oxford for the weekend. Their second home wasn't far from my farm and the kids enjoyed playing together.

"Houghton and Sekwaf legal offices, this is Arden, can I help you?" the pleasant voice on the other end answered. I always laughed when I heard the name of the offices. Albus Dumbledore had been his "partner", even though Albus didn't have a law degree. He did, however, have a brilliant legal mind. Sekwaf was Fawkes spelled backward, allowing the senior wizard to consult on cases in complete anonymity.

"Hi, Arden, it's Perri Gwynn, calling for Mr. Houghton. Is he in?"

"Sure, Perri, hold on one second," she chirped and put me on hold. I never understood how she could be that perky so early in the morning. Then again, I was a grouch before my shower and caffeine.

"Seph, dear, how are you?" Chris greeted when he picked up his line.

"Okay," I truthfully replied. "I need to put you on retainer, Chris."

"Seph, what happened? Are you in some sort of trouble?"

"It's not me, Chris, it's James and Lily's son, Harry. He tried to bring Sirius through the arch this morning," I explained.

"How in the hell did he get the idea to do that?" Chris sounded as irritated as I was feeling.

"He's been reviewing his father's journals, since he's working at the brewery with me. I tried to dissuade him, without getting into the issue in the past. We all promised we'd never speak about what was done," I explained.

"Yes, the gag order was important at the time. If people knew how easy it was to contact the dead ... you've hired me, both of you are my clients. How successful was he?"

"Sirius was there, but smart enough not to come through. None of us told Sirius the whole story, but he'd gleaned enough snippets to put it all together. He was in Azkaban when we'd first attempted it," I explained and Chris grunted.

"Where are you now and where is Harry?"

"I'm at the brewery, I took Harry home to number 12. The house is still under all its enchantments, so they won't be able to take him into custody from there," I responded.

"All right, we're going to arrange for him to turn himself in. Hopefully we'll be able to do it quietly enough it won't make the papers. Late afternoon on a holiday weekend should ensure the Ministry is mostly empty. Summon him to your home and I'll make arrangements for him to surrender late this afternoon. He's friends with the Minister, isn't he?"

"He is," I confirmed.

"Alright, I'll see you out at the farm in an hour or so. Meanwhile, don't talk to anyone else about this," he directed. "Were you directly involved this time?"

"No, he sent for me once his spell had worked. The worst I did was get him out of there," I explained.

"That's good. Are you holding up okay?" Chris would have understood how hard it had been to see Sirius and I was thankful for his concern.

"I'm fine, actually. We said goodbye, he told me to get on with my life."

"Okay, I'm glad. Lizzy would hex me if she knew I hadn't checked up on you. I have some filings to take care of and some calls to make to ensure they haven't already sent a team out to bring Harry in. I'll see you in a short while, okay?"

"Sure, Chris. Thanks for taking the case."

"It's what I do, Seph. Take care and I'll see you at the farm." A click let me know he'd hung up. I stowed the cell phone back in my handbag and flicked my wand to send Harry a Patronus message. Thankfully, he could Floo directly from his home to mine, thereby decreasing the risk of him being arrested.

I picked up my few personal items and the thin cloak I'd put on to handle the chill this morning and opened my office door. I wasn't looking where I was going, and walked right into someone's chest. Peering up, I was happy to see Charlie standing outside my office. His arms encircled me and I leaned against him, so thankful he was here. I couldn't hold the tears back.

"Hey, love, calm down," he softly told me as his hands ran from the top of my head to my waist.

"I'm just so glad you're here," I whimpered. Charlie gently pushed us into my office and closed the door behind us.

"As soon as Dad fire-called and told me what had happened, I knew you'd be upset. Did Harry really collapse the archway in the Death Chamber down in the Department of Mysteries?" he asked even as he settled us down on the sofa. I looked up at him, panicked.

"He collapsed it? Really?"

"Dad said that was the rumor, however given how gossip is around that place, I wouldn't get too upset until we hear something more official," he tried to soothe me, but it didn't really help.

"I warned him, begged him not to do it, but ... oh, goddess this is a mess," I moaned before leaning deeper into Charlie's embrace. He whispered words of comfort while gently stroking my head, face, arms and back. When I'd calmed myself, again, I pulled back to look at him.

"Do you need to go to work, or can you stay with me for a while?" I asked.

"They're not expecting me at the preserve today," he explained. "I've never taken a 'family day' before. No one will say anything at my taking one now."

"I'm so glad. I need to head home. Harry is supposed to meet me there and then his barrister will be coming later this morning."

"A barrister? You really think it's going to come to that?"

"I know it will. This isn't the first time someone has used James' books," I explained. "I can't tell you any more, at least not until I speak with the barrister. Come on, we need to get to my house." I stood and offered him my hand. Together we left my office, quickly telling Susan I would be unavailable for the rest of the day and to say nothing to the press, regardless of how relentless they might become. If she needed to abandon the Floo and phone and lock the doors, she was welcomed to. Susan looked confused, but thankfully just nodded and said she'd follow the instructions.

Back at home, Connor was surprised to see Charlie and me there in the middle of the day, but he thought it was a great treat. Harry's arrival shortly thereafter sent him into orbit with excitement. While Harry chatted with Connor while we awaited Chris's arrival, I pulled Charlie aside. There was something important I needed to tell him. My encounter this morning had actually settled some things for me. We slipped from the rear sitting room into my office.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, looking somewhat frightened by my desire for a private conversation. "Harry said you and Sirius talked."

"We did, and it was good. I hadn't ever had a chance to say goodbye, and I was finally able to do that. I told him about Connor as well, but it turns out he already knew. He's been watching and listening since he passed," I explained.

"I see," he replied, his voice considerably more tense.

"Charlie, there's something I need to tell you," I began, indicating he should sit on the settee I kept in my office for when I was reading. I joined him, leaving some space between us. Charlie was studying the scars on his hands with great interest. "Sirius and I talked, and he's seen me with you."

"Oh."

"He's impressed with how you treat me and how you care for Connor." Charlie's head snapped up at this. "He's glad to know that someone is making me happy."

"He is?" I nodded my response to his question.

"Charlie, as hard as it was to see him, it was a good thing. Sirius was my everything for so much of my life. The love I have for him didn't end when he died -"

"I understand, I -" Charlie sadly interrupted me.

"Let me finish, please," I interrupted him. He nodded, his eyes not meeting mine. "The love I have for Sirius will always be with me, because it's the love which made Connor. But what surprised me was how different it felt. I had no desire to cling to him today. He really is gone and my feelings have changed."

"Er," he looked up, confusion written on his face.

"See, Sirius was my past, and I love him that way. But when I think about the future, I realize there's someone else in my heart," I continued. "Charlie, I've fallen in love with you."

"What?" he mumbled. "What are you saying?"

"I'm in love with you, Charlie Weasley. It took my seeing my dead ex-lover to realize how I feel right now. I'm so sorry I didn't say anything before, I was just -" I didn't finish my thought as Charlie's lips were on mine in a kiss which both stole my breath and curled my toes.

"Seph, I've been in love with you for months now, but I was afraid to say anything," he told me through his panting breath. We both started to laugh out of happiness, unable to contain the mirth we felt. He began to kiss me again, when there was a rapping on the office door.

"Seph," Chris's voice called. "I'm here. We need to get started." I pulled my lips away and sighed.

"We're coming." I called, even as arm in arm Charlie and I were headed back to the sitting room and the very ugly conversation about this morning's events.


	30. Chapter 30

**Author's Note: So I'm about an hour early for a Monday posting, but it will let me sleep in a tad later in the morning. Shockingly, it's an angsty chapter with the title taken from an Adele song. I honestly do own much more music, I'm just entranced by this album right now, and I feel it speaks so well to the emotions these characters are feeling. I was glad to see so many people happy about Charlie and Seph. For anyone who has read my other stories, I have a bit of an obsession with Mr. Black. Leaving him dead shows that I am growing as a person, and perhaps putting my 'affair' with this literary character to rest...maybe. I know many of you are following along on my never ending health battles. To keep you up to date, my next move it to see an experimental/research physician at the local university. As of yet, no one is able to tell me exactly what's wrong, or how to treat it. Thankfully, though, I remain cancer free; it was the only good news they were able to give me. My deepest thanks to my pre-reader and all around cheerleader, Stephanie. She's become the biggest Charlie supporter, and I find myself wanting to write fluffiness just to hear her squeal through the emails. Also, I could not do what I do, or write half as well, without the support, understanding, friendship and all around awesomeness of my beta, Arnel. She knows I'm working hard to finish writing this story before Nov. 1, and she's right there with me. Another note at the bottom. Thanks for reading, reviewing and just being amazing. My readers are wonderful. This chapter might be hard, but it is completely necessary. MNF **

**Chapter 30:**

**Set Fire to the Rain**

**Ginny POV:**

"This has to be our last weekend home, Ginny," Hermione admonished. "We're never going to be prepared to sit for our exams if we don't settle down and revise."

"I know, I know, but it's Easter weekend, and Mum is making dinner and I've missed Harry," I explained.

"Yes, I know you miss Harry, but we only have a few months left. Wouldn't it be nice to have your completed studies to fall back on should Quidditch not work out for you?" Hermione had always been the voice of reason, even if it were an annoying voice some of the time. If I hadn't begged her, she would have stayed back with Neville and Luna.

"You're right," I acquiesced. "However, I do have a wedding to be planning."

"Ginny, you'd wear a sundress and carry a bouquet of daisies from the meadow if your mum would agree to it. She's planning your wedding, you're doing very little," I made a small grouchy noise at her before turning away. We were in the flying carriage, taking the short trip to Avignon and then catching the last Portkey of the day to the London station. From there we'd walk over to the Ministry and Floo home with my father.

We didn't argue for the remainder of our trip, although I could tell her mind was preoccupied. Hermione was definitely concerned about her exams; I couldn't get as worked up about them as she. If Quidditch didn't work out, I intended to work at the Brewery. I was certain Seph would find something for me to do.

The station in London was busier than usual, but it was a holiday weekend. We walked through the arrivals gate and were surprised to find Charlie standing there waiting for us. The look on his face immediately made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something was very wrong.

"Hey, Squirt," he said. The timbre of his voice was all wrong, and he sounded tense. "Change of plans, we're headed out to Seph's farm for the weekend."

"Why?" I hesitantly asked.

"Well, er, I would really rather not get into the specifics until we get out there. Can you just trust me for a few minutes? I promise to tell you the truth as soon as we're away from the crowds," he asked and I nodded. I had no reason to distrust my brother.

"Can you just tell me, is anyone hurt or sick?" Charlie smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing like that, Gin. Everyone is healthy." I half-heartedly shrugged at him and Hermione and I followed him to the Floo lines. We each quickly passed through the fireplace and found ourselves out at Seph's house.

Her house was a hive of activity. Mum rushed through, gently kissing my cheek before rushing up the stairs. I could have sworn I heard Fleur's voice coming down from the second floor. Several of Seph's staff were hastily moving bits of furniture before Beaghy came out.

"Glad ye are here. Girls, up two flights of stairs and straight on. Elizabeth's the only other one up there. Seph, Harry and Chris will be back soon," she told us before she started to shoo us with her hands. Not sure what was happening, but not wanting to disobey her, we began to go up. I turned around and looked at Charlie, questioning him.

"Don't worry, Gin. Everything will be explained in a few minutes. Go put your things upstairs," he directed and we followed.

Hermione and I dropped our bags just inside the threshold of the room before we turned right back around and went down the stairs to the main floor of the house. I heard Harry's voice as I rounded the last banister and sped up to find him.

"They set the hearing for Monday morning, but Kingsley is keeping the paperwork on his desk until then. I was just thankful they let me out, even if I had to be released to Seph," he said glumly.

"Harry, it's just because you live alone. If someone other than another teenager lived with you, I'm sure they would have released you without question. It's not you, it's the precedence it would set," a man I'd never seen before explained.

"What is Harry having a hearing for? Why does he need to be in Seph's care?" I said rather loudly. A rock formed in my gut, fearing the answer. They all turned to look at me; all except Harry that is. He was looking at the floor.

"Why don't we take this into the sitting room?" Seph suggested and we moved toward the large room to the right of the hallway. We filed in and she then slid the door closed. My Mum and Dad were here, along with Harry and me, Seph, Charlie, Bill, George, Ron, Hermione and the man I didn't know. Harry sat down on a very stiff looking loveseat and I squeezed in next to him. Everyone sat down except Seph and the stranger.

"For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, this is Chris Houghton. He has agreed to represent Harry and me through this mess," Seph explained and then stepped apart from Mr. Houghton.

"Harry, what do you need representation for?" I demanded. This couldn't be happening, there was no way he'd be so stupid. He promised me.

"Miss Weasley, if you'll allow me, I'll start at the beginning so we only need to go through this once?" Mr. Houghton said and I nodded, fearful that if I began to speak I'd also not be able to restrain myself.

"At quarter six this morning, Harry successfully opened a portal, using the archway in the Death Chamber of the Department of Mysteries. While he did not escort anyone through the portal, structural damage was sustained to the arch. I was contacted by Persephone at ten after eight this morning to offer my counsel to both Harry and Seph. As per my arrangement, Harry turned himself in this afternoon. He was released into Seph's care and a hearing will be held before the Crown Prosecutors Division of the Wizengamot at nine on Monday morning. After speaking with the lead prosecutor and Minister this afternoon, I believe Harry will be able to avoid incarceration."

The room was quiet, but all I could hear was the blood rushing through my ears and the thundering of my heart. I looked around the room and hated what I was seeing. Mum was in tears, disappointment evident. Dad was consoling her, but he was still shaking his head. Bill appeared to want to rip Harry's arms off and Charlie's attention was on Seph, who looked pale, tired and overwhelmed. George had walked over to stand behind Mum, leaning down to whisper in her ear and Hermione and Ron were whispering to each other, their faces were written in angry frustration. Harry made eye contact solely with the floor.

The pocket door slid open and Percy walked in, whispered something to Mr. Houghton and then went to sit next to Dad.

"Thank you, Percy," the barrister said as my brother moved across the room. "Harry, Percy remained at the Ministry late to ensure no reporters discovered what happened today. Thankfully, he saw the last of them leave a few minutes ago. You are going to sit down and do an interview with _The__Daily__Prophet_ on Monday afternoon. Hopefully we'll be able to get ahead of the story and keep the salacious gossiping to a minimum."

"Thanks," Harry glumly spoke. "All of you, I don't deserve your -"

"Stop it, Harry!" I yelled at him. "Don't pull out the 'I'm unworthy crap' again. You delivered yourself into this mess. You are lucky my family is wiling to help."

"Ginny," Bill said in a cautionary voice. "Why don't we go up and see Fleur. The baby is really moving now and -"

"No! I'm not going to let everyone coddle him. He knew this was stupid and reckless and he did it anyway. Tell me, Harry, did you lie to all of them like you lied to me? Did you look them in the face and make promises you had no intention of keeping, too?"

"Ginevra Molly Weasley," Mum stood up, "you will not use that tone of voice with Harry. He made a mistake and he's going to make amends for it."

"How can you defend him Mum?"

"He's just a -"

"If you say he's just a boy, then what am I? He's a grown man, engaged to be married and running a company. He chose to not consider his responsibilities and now he has himself in a pile of shite!" I didn't usually yell at my Mum, but I'd had it. My family was defending his actions, like they always did. I was done with it.

The room was silent and everyone looked uncomfortable, especially Mr. Houghton. I was seething now, my breath ragged and my eyes burning. I made contact with Charlie and silently pleaded with him.

"I think it might be best if we leave Harry and Ginny to hash this out," he suggested. "We can discuss this more after supper."

"I don't think we should leave them alone," Mum complained.

"Molly, they need to work this out themselves. Seph, do you have time to take us out to see the brewery you have on the property?" Dad interjected and Seph nodded to his request. They filed out, Hermione and Ron being the last. They stopped to look at me.

"If you need us, we'll be in the kitchen, helping make supper," Hermione told me with a squeeze of her hand. Harry was going to need to talk with the pair as well. He'd promised them just as he promised me.

When the door was closed fully I stood directly in front of him and slammed my foot against the floor. "What the bloody hell were you thinking? You'd heard all of us tell you to let Sirius be. Why didn't you do it?"

"Gin, he's the closest thing to a parent I ever had," he started. "I missed him. He's my only family."

Harry had learned nothing in the last few years. I thought we'd ended this. Hell, after everything the last year had held, I honestly believed we'd finally broken through to him. All of my frustrations and disbelief welled up and before I knew what I was doing, my hand was slapping across his cheek. He raised his own hand to the spot and then looked at me in shock.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because someone needed to knock some sense into you. He wasn't your only family. What do you call all the people who were just in this room? What do you call Seph, Connor and Teddy? What am I, then?" I roared.

"Ginny, I ..." he stopped. I was thankful for his choosing to not make another pathetic excuse.

"Harry, we all love you and would do anything for you. Why aren't we enough?" My anger was dissipating into despair.

"Gin, you are," he said as he stood. He tried to pull me to him, but I backed away. He wasn't going to get to charm his way out of this.

"No, obviously I'm not. You went after Sirius because we weren't enough. I wasn't enough," I began to weep but even as Harry advanced to hug me, I retreated behind the sofa. "Remember when I told you what I thought and felt when I saw you dead? How I thought the world had ended when I thought you'd gone? What do you think would have happened if you'd been hurt or killed? What am I going to do if you're sent to prison?"

"Gin, you heard Chris, it isn't going to happen."

"We don't know that," I stammered through my tears. "Harry, I don't think I can do this anymore," I all but whimpered, my heart shattering in my chest

"Do what, Gin? What are you talking about?" Harry had tears on his face as well now.

"Harry, you promised me, repeatedly. You broke the promise. More than that, you put yourself into a position where I could have or might still lose you," I started shaking and my stomach was rolling in my gut. "I can't marry you if I can't trust you."

"Ginny, please, don't do this," he begged, but I couldn't make another sound. I walked toward the door, even as he was crying and pleading. It was so difficult to push it open, and I was only able to make it wide enough to slip through sideways. Just before I did, I removed the ring from my finger and left it on the top of the secretary.

Ron and Hermione were sitting on the stairs in the hallway, seemingly just waiting for my appearance. I couldn't say anything, but Hermione wrapped her arm around me and whispered in my ear.

"Come on, we're Apparating to my parents' house. Harry hasn't ever been there, so he won't follow. Ron will take care of him."

I feebly nodded against her and we suddenly disappeared into the swirling void.

**Second A/N: Two other things. First, for anyone reading Growing Up with Mum and Dad, I haven't abandoned it. I will go back to writing it once I'm done with MMB. Second, I am again participating in the National Novel Writing Month event in November. I will be beginning the second book of my original series, "The Faerie Queen Chronicles". Anyone interested in a copy, please see my writer information. If you would like, we can even make arrangements for me to sign it for you. Thanks, MNF**


	31. Chapter 31

**Author's Note: I know many of you are hoping for the resolution to the cliff hanger at the end of the last chapter; sorry to disappoint, but it's not here yet. Harry has some amens to make before he can repair things with Ginny. The song for the chapter is by Jars of Clay, and I highly recommend you find it on you tube and give it a listen. It so perfectly fits Seph's mood and what she's attempting to teach Harry. Also, please make sure you've turned on the PM feature if you're reviewing, it's the only way I can respond. Thanks to my team for their unending support. Enjoy, MNF**

**Chapter 31:**

**Boys (Lesson One)**

**Sunday, April 4**

**Persephone POV:**

Connor was running through the gardens, looking for the Easter eggs Charlie had hidden for him this morning. What was to have been a jovial family weekend and holiday celebration had been spoiled when Ginny removed her ring and then left with Hermione. Ron had promised they were safe, and he was in contact with his girlfriend and sister, but would say little else.

With Ginny gone, Bill, Fleur, George and Percy had decided to go to their respective homes for the weekend, promising to be back at two for dinner today. The thirty-six hours since their departure had been tense and often difficult. Harry had become sullen, stubborn and insolent. He wouldn't listen to anyone, nor would he engage in anything other than lying in his darkened bedroom. He had even ignored Connor, which was wholly unacceptable to me. If he didn't get up and start dressing soon, I would be giving him a bit of my mind. For right now, though, I was enjoying the mirth of my little boy.

"Thank you for doing this," I said to Charlie as we stood arm in arm watching Connor's fun. "I know he's upset by the emotions rolling around this place."

"Seph, love, there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to help you with Harry, so I might as well do something for Connor. Seeing him happy always makes you happy," he replied.

"Oh, so you're only being sweet to my son to get to me?" I playfully rebuked.

"Of course," he replied with the same brevity I had used. "Isn't there an old adage about the only way to a mother's heart is through her child?"

I gently punched his arm. "You're incorrigible."

"Yes, love, I am. It's why you love me," he crooned before his lips met mine. We usually kept our displays of affection to a bare minimum around Connor. We weren't teenagers and we didn't need to act like we were. I was worried about the questions it could raise.

"Roast is in the oven," Molly announced as she exited the kitchen to join us on the sloping lawn behind the farmhouse. Arthur had come out with her, and was now chasing after Connor, claiming he wanted his treats. Connor was squealing with delight. "I wanted to do more, but your staff wouldn't hear of it."

"I attempted to give them the weekend off, but when everything happened on Friday, they chose to come in yesterday and today. Even Beaghy told me she was cooking today. I don't argue with her anymore, I get nowhere with it," I explained.

"Seph, my dear, that says so much about how you treat them," Molly answered me. "Fine example to be setting for your son."

"I hope so," I honestly replied.

"You're a great mum, love," Charlie attempted to correct me but I shook my head.

"Your mother will back me up here; while your children are growing up, you constantly worry if you're doing enough, teaching them enough, instilling enough of your values into them. The only true test is to see what sort of adults they become," I explained.

"She's right, Charlie dear," Molly agreed. "However, watching your little one, I'd say he's learning all the right things. You're doing a splendid job, both of you." Charlie wrapped his other arm around his mum and kissed her head. She'd done a wonderful job as well.

"Mister Arfur, put me down!" Connor cried between his giggles. Arthur had him upside down, checking his tummy for treats by blowing raspberries on his belly. "Der's no chocwat on my tummy!" We were all laughing their antics.

I blew my breath out, lifting my fringe as I did. I wasn't excited about what I needed to do now. "Well, this son seems to be in fine shape and well cared for," I announced. "Make sure he doesn't eat too many sweets and get a belly ache. You've yet to experience the 'too-much-sugar-tummy-ache-sickness'," I told Charlie. "I'm going to go speak with the other one."

"Would you prefer if I did it, dear?" Molly asked.

"No, there are some things I should have told Harry before now, but I chose to hide behind a nearly twenty year old court ruling. There are some truths that young man needs to hear before he has his hearing tomorrow, and he needs to shower and eat something. I can smell him across the hallway."

"I'm surprised you didn't say something about the stink," Molly said to her son. "Aren't you sharing the room with him?" Charlie turned beet red and stumbled over answering her.

"Molly, we are consenting adults well past the age of legality. I will say this once; we enjoy sharing a bed. Ask about it again, and you're liable to hear more than you ever wanted to," I told her as gently as I could. I was much too old to be having someone question my sex life. Charlie seemed to choke on air, but I kept my eyes on his mother. She surveyed me and then nodded.

"Well said, dear. My lips are sealed on the subject," she told me and I smiled. Charlie stared at me, gobsmacked. There were benefits which came with age, including learning to be comfortable in your own skin and with your own sexuality. I was hoping my new partner would begin to develop his own sense of this.

"Thank you. I'm off. If I don't emerge in an hour, come and retrieve me, Bubble-Head Charm in place," I jokingly added and then moved back into the house. I decided to walk along the cobblestone path which ran the length of my home, and went into the last door, thus avoiding the chaos of the kitchen.

I pulled my Pensieve from the bottom shelf of the cupboards in my office and then two small scrolls from the shelf above. There was something Harry needed to understand, and it would be far easier to have him simply watch my memory than my attempts to explain it. Climbing the smaller rear set of stairs, I was rapidly at Harry's bedroom door. I rapped on it loudly, eliciting a groan from inside.

"You have thirty seconds before I come in. Please make sure you're wearing clothing. I have no desire to see you starkers," I told him in a stern voice. Another groan and some mumbling confirmed he'd heard me. After a crash and some expletives the door to the room opened, Harry standing there with only a pair of pyjama pants on. His hair was a greater mess than usual and he hadn't shaved in two days, leaving him with an impressive start to a beard.

"Seph, I don't want -"

"Don't care, Harry," I interrupted him as I walked into his room, flicking my wand at the windows to open the curtains to let in the light and the transoms to bring in the fresh spring air. "You've moped up here for the last day and a half. Connor is expecting you to be at dinner and Chris is coming by this evening to prepare for your hearing tomorrow. Before he does, there are a few things I need you to understand. Come on, sit down and let me show you a memory."

Harry begrudgingly moved over to the chesterfield I had against the windows and sat down. I carefully settled the Pensieve between us on the leather upholstery and pulled the memory from my head. I had never catalogued this one for Harry because I hoped he'd never need to see it. The silvery strand fluttered down to the bowl and swirled and twisted on its own.

"Harry, please watch this and you'll understand what happened when we attempted to use your father's journals to bring your parents back," I explained and he bend down, his face entering the vessel. I closed my eyes and attempted to not think about what he was seeing. The anger on James' face. His harsh words. The fear in Lily's face. The arch beginning to crumble while my friends and I stood helplessly by. The screams from those beyond the veil wanting to come back. The memories assaulted me over and over, like a rapid succession of punches to my head, my ears, my eyes. Had I been boxing, I most certainly would have been knocked out by the force of the blows. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly and deeply, trying to calm my now overwhelmed senses.

Harry sat back up, his face contorted into a stupefied shock. "I've never seen him angry before."

"Believe me, Harry, that was the angriest I had ever seen your father. He was so irate and chagrined at what we'd done. His last words to me were those which you witnessed," I explained, still haunted by them.

"I'm sure he still loves you, Seph. Wherever -"

"That's not why I showed you this memory, Harry," I interjected. "I wanted you to see what happened when we opened the portal."

"Yeah, what was all that yelling about?"

"Those were spirits from the other side wanting to get through. The thing your father hadn't written in his journal, but had shared with his co-workers, was the difference in the spirits on the other side. Not every spirit is gentle, Harry. Once a portal is opened and you bring one person through, you can't control what else might come with them. Malevolent spirits would be quite excited to re-enter the world of the living and take their revenge."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" I sighed and looked away.

"I couldn't. After our little stunt in eighty-two, the four of us were bound by a confidentiality contract with the Ministry. Should we break it, we would immediately be sent to Azkaban," I replied.

"Why?" he quickly muttered, his eyes moving quickly, an action I recognized as inherited from his mum. It signified her attempting to suss out a problem.

"As you found out, the spell to contact the dead and prepare the portal is quite simple. While the potion is a long process, it's not terribly difficult. The archway is old. So old no one is exactly sure when it was created, but there are drawings over fifteen hundred years old depicting it in a similar state as it is now. Should someone have done the spell and then the archway collapsed, there was no way of knowing if there would be a permanent passageway between life and death. The ramifications of such are terrifying," I explained.

"I understand," he said. "Why didn't you just tell me?" It was my turn to be ashamed.

"I was heeding the parchment I'd signed," I told him, opening the first of the two decrees which I'd brought with me. "But that's not a completely honest answer," I continued. "My pride was part of it as well. I didn't want you to be aware of the biggest mistake of my life. I didn't want to jeopardize your opinion of me."

Harry looked up from the parchment and stared at me. I remained motionless as he did so, terrified of what might happen next. I felt horrible at the way my omission had affected him. The guilt of not putting him first was eating at me. Harry took a deep breath, maintaining his eye contact.

"What's going to happen next?"

"The hearing, but you already knew that. Chris is very much hoping he'll be able to negotiate the same punishment for you as he did for the rest of us."

"Wait, he was your barrister?"

"Yes," I answered even as I was nodding. "He's Eliza's older brother. He was the official solicitor on the case, although the legal strategy was devised by Albus Dumbledore. They became 'partners' after that."

"Chris was the professor's law partner?"

"Yes, but it's a story best told by him. As for the rest, you'll have a rather hefty fine to pay and you'll be asked to sign the same agreement I did, but it's doubtful you'll be sentenced to any prison time, since the archway didn't collapse completely. They might, however, require you to remain with me for a while."

"Why? I'm not a child!" It was the first strong emotion I'd seen in Harry since Ginny left the other night. Apathy wasn't an emotion; it was, instead, a state of being.

"No, but you did spend the better part of a year evading them. Since the legal documentation proving I was to be your guardian when you were a minor has been filed, finally, it might be requested I ensure your staying in the U.K. It's not so bad, the food is good and Connor would love having you here," I tried to make it sound like a good thing, but if I were Harry, I wouldn't be happy about it either.

"I guess," he uttered and silence fell between us again.

"What happened with Ginny?" I finally asked and Harry's whole being shrunk and recoiled in pain at the mere mention of her name.

"She broke things off with me," he quietly answered. Charlie and I had feared this was what happened. "She gave me back her ring. Told me she couldn't marry me because she didn't trust me."

"I see." There wasn't much else I could say. Harry didn't need to hear me remind him of what a prat he'd been, or how his actions had hurt and disappointed us all.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," he confessed. "I don't want to live without her." I reached over and hugged him.

"As bad as things are, I don't think it's as far beyond repair as you might feel it is."

"She was pretty adamant about it being over."

"I'm sure she was, but I'll let you in on a secret about us red-heads. Our tempers flare just like the sunlight makes our hair seem to. Give her some time, think about what she said and what you could do to reassure her. Once she's over her anger, I think you'll be able to woo her again," I explained even though he didn't seem to believe it.

"Woo her? I have no idea how to woo."

"Not a problem," I said with a smile. "I am being wooed by a champion, and I watched your dad woo your mum. They broke up and made up nearly weekly. Hell, she broke things off two weeks before the wedding, swearing she'd never speak to him again. Obviously that wasn't the case."

He smiled for the first time. "No, it wasn't."

"Let's get the legal crap dealt with; then we will worry about your love life. It will be okay, I feel it," I added with a hopeful tone. Harry reached out and hugged me.

"I'm so glad I have you now, Seph," he whispered and tears immediately sprung to my eyes.

"I am too, my boy." I barely eked out, my emotions getting the best of me. "I love you, Harry. I promise I will always will."

"I love you, too, Seph. You're the best thing my parents left me." I didn't even bother attempting to control my tears. It was the happiest cry I'd ever had.


	32. Chapter 32

**Author's Note: Hi all, Happy Halloween! The song is by Matchbox Twenty. See you on Thursday, MNF**

**Chapter 32:**

**Bent**

**Monday, April 5, 1999**

**Harry POV:**

"Harry, mate, I swear to you, she's alright." Ron was telling me about Ginny as we waited in the rear lounge of Seph's house. "Hermione took her back to school last night. She'd calmed down quite a bit, and 'Mione thought she could probably talk to her about your break up in a few days. She loves you, she always has. Gin's just hurt."

"She has a right to be," I responded quietly. "I totally screwed this one up."

"Well, yeah," he agreed without a hint of sarcasm. "Why did you do it anyway? I mean, I understand you miss Sirius and all, but you've got so many other things in your life now. Did you really need Sirius that bad?"

I ran my hands through my hair, completely uncaring about what it did to my mop. No one had really asked me this question, they'd tip-toed around it, but no one had the strength to ask it. As I pondered the real answer, I felt like more of a wanker. It was really a dumb reason.

"Truth?" I asked.

Ron gave me that 'I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want the truth' look of his and I cringed. Of everyone, he was the one who would understand the best, and I was confident he would want to punch me when he heard.

"This was the work my dad did," I began explaining. "Everyone talks about what an amazing wizard he was. How he was intelligent and talented. Because he had done it, I wanted to do it, too. I needed to prove I'm as good as my dad. Bringing Sirius back just seemed like the obvious choice."

"You did this to prove you're smart?" It was a rhetorical question, even though I wasn't sure Ron knew what rhetorical meant. I sort of shrugged in response. "That has to be the bloody stupidest thing I've ever heard you say. You killed Voldemort, and you needed proof you're a good wizard? Why didn't you just ask one of us to remind you of how good you are? Hermione is more than willing to sing your praises. So was my sister, and my Mum, and Luna, and Neville, and Seph and what about Connor and Teddy -"

"Enough!" I interrupted his role call of people who supported me. "There was more to it than that."

"What else, and it had better be a better reason than your first one," he disgustedly requested.

"I know what it's like to grow up without your parents. There are things I wished I'd had someone in my life explain to me. I wanted to give Connor back his dad. I wanted Seph to be happy, after everything she'd given me," I explained.

Ron thought for a minute and then spoke. "I can understand that," he hesitantly said, "but you're forgetting a few things, mate. He never knew Sirius. Not only that, Seph and Charlie are getting really close. I'm not as observant as you or 'Mione, but even I can tell they love each other. Why can't you be happy they found each other?"

He brought up the one question I hoped no one would ask me. I had no idea how I was going to get myself out of this conversation.

"You're upset they're happy." It was a statement, not a question. I wondered how he figured it out.

"I just didn't want to see Connor get attached and then have Charlie leave him. Seph and Sirius had been together for their whole lives. He'd stick around."

"Harry, I know it's hard for you to believe, but not everyone leaves," Ron said in a most insightful way. "Charlie loves both of them. He wants to be Connor's dad."

"How do you know?"

"You mean besides him looking at them like Dad looks at Mum and all of us?" I nodded. "One night when we were at the Burrow for supper, I walked into the kitchen after the meal and Charlie was helping Mum do the dishes. He was asking about how you teach a little boy to use the loo. I think you only ask something like that if you're really involved with the kid."

"Huh, I didn't realize …" I mumbled.

"I know. Harry, I know it was rotten to grow up the way you did. Seph should have been taking care of you from the minute your parents were killed. Why they didn't let her have you we might never know. But you have a chance now, to be part of a family, your own family, with a mum and a little brother and even a father figure if you want him. Why not enjoy what is here now, instead of missing what never was?"

I thought about what Ron was saying. It surprised me just how astute his observations had been.

"You really think Seph cares for me like she does Connor?" I hadn't planned on asking the question, even though it was rumbling through my head. The question earned me a light thwack to the head.

"Are you daft? She hired you the best solicitor there is, was willing to vouch for your character and take responsibility for you. I haven't heard her raise her voice or get angry at you. Hell, she's even willing to let your stinky arse move into her house to keep you out of prison. If that isn't a mother's love, then I don't deserve to be the son of Molly Weasley." I was gobsmacked by his comments. Before I could comment, a happy call of my name and loud footsteps on the back stairs from the upper floor alerted me to Connor's arrival.

"Harwy, Harwy, you down dere?"

"I am, little guy," I called back and he jumped the last few steps, fell as he landed, did a front somersault, popped up onto his feet and ran to me, a huge smile on his face.

"I didn't want you to weave wifout seein' you," he explained as I lifted him up onto my lap. "Just tewl dem you sorwy and you not do it again. My Charwie say it what you do when you make a mister-ache." I started to chuckle at his mispronunciation.

"It's mistake, buddy," Charlie corrected him from the stairs. He'd come down with Seph.

"Oh, okay," Connor replied, thinking about what he'd just been told. "Just tell dem you sorwy."

"I will, I promise. What are you doing today?"

"Rwon is takin' me to see Mrs. Molwy. We gonna make supper for everyone."

"Where's Elizabeth?" I asked, looking from Connor to Seph.

"She'd asked for this week off to go with her parents to Geneva, to visit her brother. Charlie was going to stay with him, but your Mum offered, and Connor loves to spend time with his Mrs. Molly," Seph explained. Everyone was going to so much trouble, all because I got myself into a mess.

"She wike my grammy, but I can't cawl her grammy until Charwie is my awive daddy," he explained.

"What do you mean 'alive daddy'?"

"Someday, I have one daddy here, dat's my Charwie and I have one daddy in heaben, my first daddy." It sounded like Connor had a better grasp on this whole thing than I.

"Alright, little man, come here and give Charlie and me hugs before Ron takes you over to the Burrow," Seph requested and he scrambled off my lap and ran to hug them. He hugged Charlie first, who whispered something in his ear, causing Connor to nod fervently. He then hugged his mum.

"Use your manners, wash your hands, eat with your silverware and ask to use the potty if you need it," Seph reminded him.

"Charwie said Mrs. Mowly has a special one, just my size AND she knows to put the O's in for me to shoot down," Connor told her in an exaggerated whisper. Seph stifled her laugh as she nodded.

"Love you," she told him.

"Love you, too," he cried out before running over to Ron. I wondered if he walked anywhere. "Come on, let's go."

"Okay, okay," Ron said as he rose and they walked to the hallway and Flooed to the Burrow.

"Okay, sweetheart, just a few quick things before we go," Seph said as she and Charlie walked over toward me. I hadn't noticed before, but she was wearing plum wizarding robes. Seph didn't wear robes often, and there was a specific reason to be wearing ones in this particular shade.

"You sit on the Wizengamot?" I blurted out.

"Yes, inherited the seat when I inherited the house. I am the heir of the House of MacPhearson and the House of Engelsley. When they begin the new year in July, you will be able to take your place as the heir of both the Houses of Black and Potter, if everything goes well today. It's not all that interesting, but for what's happening today, swinging my weight around can work to our advantage."

"I'm sorry to have put you to so much trouble," I apologized for the hundredth time.

"Harry, I know, but please stop saying you're sorry to me. I forgive you. We all do things in our youth we would choose not to do when we're older. It's why they say you're 'older and wiser' when you get to be my age," she told me and I nodded.

"Now, there are a few things we should go over. Chris is liable to repeat them before we go in, but it is imperative you do as we are asking," she reminded.

"Whatever you tell me, I will do it," I promised.

"Good. First, two-thirds of the people on the committee which will be presiding over the hearing today are friendly with me. Several of them like to have their egos stroked. They are liable to ask some outlandish 'favours' of me, and perhaps even you. Whatever they ask, do not get upset about it. They won't want anything immoral or illegal, just something to make them feel as if they wield power. If letting one of them come to the brewery and play in the new product development room for a day makes things easier for you, I'm more than willing to let them do it."

"No!" I protested. "That's our business and they can't expect -"

"Harry, you're doing the exact opposite of what I asked of you," she reprimanded calmly but firmly. "Politics is ugly and unpleasant, but today I will play their games to keep you safe. That was an extreme example. It's more likely I'd be asked to vote with them on some decree naming this day or that street in honour of their great someone or other. It won't be on anything important, just personal things," she explained.

"I don't want you doing something you're uncomfortable with for me," I pleaded.

"I would never compromise myself, Harry, but I will play their game to get what I want. Believe me, after watching my father navigate a political career, I am well versed in the art of ego-stroking." I had a horrible feeling about this, but I nodded, begrudgingly.

"Second, Chris told you, but I want to remind you, keep your answers short and on point. Do not offer information you weren't asked. There are a few who like to play games, and will delight in tripping you up. Please, sweetheart, don't give them a chance to."

"Got it," I replied.

"Lastly, do not let your temper get the best of you. Hold it in until we're away from the Ministry, and then you can destroy whatever you feel the need to," she told me with a smile, and I responded in kind. "Come on, we are to meet Chris in the M.L.E. offices. Thankfully, the Minister has attached my Floo directly to the one there, so you can avoid the Atrium."

"Harry's got friends in high places," Charlie teased and I nodded.

"All things considered, you made it out of there with few problems," Chris said. He was right, while the hearing had been uncomfortable, it was nothing like the one before the full Wizengamot just before my fifth year. I recieved a pretty good tongue lashing from one of the wizards and Mrs. Longbottom - Neville's grandma - expressed her disappointment. It gave me new respect for Neville for having grown up with her. We were at Chris' office, celebrating, a little.

"Yeah, but six months of living with Seph and not being able to leave the country? Ginny and I are getting married in -" I stopped when I realized what I'd said. "Guess I don't need to worry about that, huh." Charlie walked across the office and put his arm around me.

"I know Ginny, and my squirt of a sister can be tempestuous. However, she will also listen to reason. I think you and I are going to be seeing more of each other from now on. We'll work on it together," he explained and I was happy for his help. "Gin's a romantic at heart; let her calm down and then play to that desire in her. Write her love letters, she'll eat it up."

"Harry, it really won't be so bad living at the farm with Connor and me, I promise. Anyway, can you imagine how much fun you can have out in the small brewery in back? You're liable to come up with a half dozen new brews in the time we have." Seph was trying to find the bright side, I appreciated that.

"The gold is being taken directly from my accounts, right?" I asked.

"It's already been done," Chris confirmed. "I was thankful they decided on a one-time payment, rather than a percentage of your income for the next year or more. You would have paid far more that way."

"It's only gold." I doubted most people understood my ambivalence towards money. As long as I had what I needed in life, the rest didn't matter.

"Well, as much as I'm enjoying the beer, Chris," Seph said lifting the bottle of the Belgian wittber with orange and coriander accents he'd found, "we need to be heading back. Harry will need to pick up his things at his house, and then he needs to move into the farm. You'll keep me apprized of issues with the media?"

"Of course, but Harry's interview and the Minister's statement should keep things to a minimum," he said. Seph hugged him and he kissed her cheek. Charlie and Chris shook hands and then I extended mine to him.

"I can't thank you enough."

"It's my job, Harry, and you did pay me well to do it, but I would have helped anyway. Your mum and dad were kind to my sister, and Seph here treats her as well as anyone in our family does. Family takes care of each other," he told me honestly. "You want to thank someone, thank this lady here. Her quick action on Friday saved you a heap of trouble."

"I realize that," I humbly replied. "She's very good to me." I wrapped my arm around Seph and kissed her cheek.

"Come on," she said, changing the subject before she became all sentimental, which would inevitably lead to tears. "We've got a move to make."

Charlie, Seph and I went down the lift and then out to the alley behind the office building. From there we Disapparated to the farm. Charlie and I were to Floo to my house, but I was surprised to find Ron and Kreacher waiting for us, several crates in their hands.

"I thought it might help if we brought your things over," Ron said.

"How did you know?"

"Dad fire called home as soon as Charlie told him the results of the hearing. Mum still has Connor, but I thought it might be helpful if you didn't need to go and pack."

"Thanks, mate. Am I in the same room as this weekend?"

"Not exactly, follow me," Seph said as she started to climb the stairs. We walked past her room and the linen closets to the front of the house. She opened the door to an amazing room, all done in blues. The king size poster bed in the centre of the room was impressive, as were the collection of beer bottles which ringed the walls, just below the ceiling. I couldn't wait to look at them and learn about some new brews. Unfortunately, they had all already been sampled.

"This is Connor's playroom. I can't take this from him," I objected.

"It was his playroom. I had the staff move all the things into the room you were in. This was a better space for you, more private. If you'll look in here, I'll show you a surprise." She pointed to what I assumed was the loo. What I wasn't prepared for was the small chill chest, two burner cooker and dish cabinets which were in what appeared to be an old linen case just before you turned into the loo.

"What?"

"Harry, you've been living on your own for quite some time. Suddenly being treated like a child would have been hard on you. This way you can chose to come down for meals, or you can eat up here. I want this to be as painless as it can be for you," Seph told me and I turned and hugged her.

"Thank you," I whispered in her ear, "I don't know what I'd do without you."


	33. Chapter 33

**Author's Note: The other site I post on got this chapter up early, so you're getting it early too! The song is by Jewel and is a lovely lullaby. I know many of you are waiting to find out about Harry and Ginny, you're going to need to continue to be patient. There are only 7 more chapters to this story; there will be a sequel however. I will not begin posting it though, until Spring 2012. If you find any spelling or grammar mistakes, they belong to me alone. Harry decided he had something else he wanted to say after the chapter had been beta'ed. Deep thanks to Arnel and Stephanie for all they do to make me better. See you next week. MNF**

**Chapter 33:**

**Forever and a Day**

**April 9, 1999**

**Harry POV:**

I walked out of my room at the farm, surprised how quiet the house was. It was only half eight, and yet the lights were dimmed upstairs and the lower level seemed to be without life. Granted dinner was two hours ago, but I wasn't sure anyone was left downstairs. As I passed Connor's bedroom, a surprising sound greeted me; soft and lilting and extremely comforting. I peeked into the little guy's bedroom and found Connor being rocked to sleep by his mum. Seph was singing him a lullaby.

Not wanting to disrupt his nighttime ritual, I sat myself down on the carpet of the hallway just outside the door frame. I had no idea Seph could sing, but it was truly beautiful. The words of the song, however, made my throat constrict.

"_My love is as true as the oceans are blue,_

_and I always feel this way._

_Just listen to the beating that keeps repeating_

_My heart wants to say:_

_It's you and me, forever and a day..."_

I closed my eyes and a memory of my Mum hit me hard. She was holding me, singing the same lullaby. I could hear her voice, feel the way her breath slid across my cheek as she exhaled. I'd seen pictures of her holding me, many of them of me holding onto her hair. Right now, I could have sworn I felt the silky strands twined through my digits.

Unlike most times when I remembered my parents, I wasn't sad. This memory comforted me, made me feel loved and safe. It felt good to know that she had cherished me with as much passion as Seph showed for Connor. Mum had cuddled and rocked me gently into dreamland, and it made me happy. I allowed myself to relish the new memory.

"Harry, Harry are you okay?" A soft voice asked even as a hand gently rattled my shoulder. I opened my eyes and looked up into the face of my surrogate mum.

"I'm fine, sorry to have worried you," I responded.

"Not a problem, I just wasn't sure if you'd fallen asleep there. I don't have my wand with me, so getting you back to bed might have been a chore," she explained. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Positive," I told her as I stood. "Your singing to Connor helped me remember my mum singing the same lullaby."

"I learned it from her," Seph explained. "She'd rock you every night, regardless of what house you were in. Your dad was convinced she was spoiling you."

"I don't think she was," I replied. "It made me feel safe."

"The most important thing a parent can give their baby."

"Do you rock him to sleep every night?" I asked even as Seph was closing the door to Connor's room. We headed toward the back set of stairs and made our way to the rear lounge.

"I don't get to every night anymore, there are days he complains he's too big. Tonight he was very sleepy, and he wanted to be snuggled after his bath. I was quite willing to comply with his wishes. How were things after I left work today?"

"Tap Room was as busy as usual," I answered. "Every seat was filled and there were people just willing to stand around and drink. I don't think the press had a negative effect on our business."

"It would appear it was just the opposite," Seph said as she sat down. "Which brings us to my meeting this afternoon. I was meeting with an architect about expansion plans for the Tap Room."

"Really? We just opened it." I was surprised by her wanting to move ahead on this so quickly. We'd discussed it, but it was always something we'd do eventually, not right away. I wondered what made her consider it so quickly.

"I know, and it's already too small. We're doing very well financially; Muggle sales are up by nearly twenty percent over this time last year and our magical sales are basically pure profit, since we were shut down last year at this time. I had been considering expansion, but a conversation I had with Hannah on Tuesday sort of cinched the deal for me."

"What did Hannah say?"

"Did you know she's been taking classes at the Leith School of Food and Wine?"

My face must have shown my surprise as Seph asked. "I had no idea. Is she getting her ... er ... degree? Do they even give degrees in food?" We both sort of snort-laughed at my question.

"She wouldn't have a degree in food, Harry, it would be in Culinary Arts," Seph continued to laugh, and I just shrugged. "She isn't in a degreed program, however. She became really interested in the pairings when we hired her, so she's been going there in the mornings to learn more. I asked her if she'd want to run the kitchen for us, and she jumped at the idea. We will still need to hire some kitchen and wait staff, and unfortunately we will have to replace her behind the bar, but I think we'd be fools not to capitalize on this. I know I should have spoken with you about it, but it just seemed too serendipitous to ignore."

"You're absolutely right," I agreed. "So, what do the plans look like, and how long will it take to make the changes?"

"They're in my office," she explained and she reached for her wand, which she usually kept in her right pocket. Seph groaned when she realized it wasn't there. "Damn, I left it in there. I don't want to get up."

"No need," I voiced even as I was drawing my wand and flicking it in the direction of her office. Her wand, the plans and her reading glasses flew out toward us presently.

"Thank you," she uttered as she slipped her glasses on, the wand into her pocket and began opening the plans on her coffee table.

We reviewed all three of the blueprints the _Choose__and__Charm_ _Magical__Architectural__Firm_ had drawn up. Thankfully, we both agreed on the same design. It was the warmest of all three designs: huge fireplace at one end, dark wood tables and richly upholstered seating surfaces. The ceiling would have heavy beams criss-crossing the cathedral ceilings. It would more than double our seating as well as providing a longer bar and the ever important kitchen facilities.

"Do you think Hannah will like it?" I asked.

"She should," Seph confirmed. "I asked her what she thought was imperative in the inclusions, and all of those ideas have been incorporated. If we agree on it, I can give the team the go ahead tomorrow morning. We'll be shut down for a week, maybe more, but the physical changes won't take long at all to complete."

"We can do it that fast? Aren't there permits and things we need?" I couldn't believe it could be taken care of this quickly.

"Thankfully our building permits are still in place and I had the foresight to apply for a food license with our alcohol and spirits one. We just need to get staff in place," she excitedly told me. "Do you want to go with me to the architects tomorrow?"

"Definitely." Her enthusiasm was infectious. "What time?"

"Can we be out of the house by nine? I know it's early for a Saturday, but that way we'd be able to visit some of the suppliers and put in the furniture orders. We can transfigure what we have, but we're going to need more."

"Not a problem," I confirmed. "Connor doesn't let me sleep too late anyway."

"I'm sorry about that. I told him he's not allowed to run into your room without permission." I held my hands up, getting her to stop. I loved when he'd dash in, climb onto my bed and tickle me.

"Seph, I love having him get me up. I'm usually awake from his morning ruckus anyway, he just motivates me to get out of bed."

"As long as it isn't a problem, then I won't say anything to him. However, if he gets on your nerves, promise you'll alert me?"

"I promise. So, do you have any exciting plans for tonight?" She shook her head.

"Charlie is waiting for one of the dragonenesses to lay her eggs. I don't know if I'll see him at all this weekend. You up for some beer and a game of chess?" Seph really knew how to live.

"That sounds perfect." The pair made their way downstairs and Seph summoned her father's chessboard while Harry went to the kitchen to retrieve their brews. They quietly began the game, mentioning little things they'd remembered from the day or other sundries. About halfway through, Seph finally got up the courage to ask Harry about his biggest problem.

"Harry, have you heard from Ginny since last week?"

Harry nodded. "I wrote her to tell her what happened with the hearing, the press and my moving in here. She wrote me back today, saying she was happy I was living here rather than Grimmauld. She figured with you and Charlie around me more, I'd be less likely to get into big trouble again. Apparently she doesn't think her brother is terribly responsible about such things."

A smile curved Seph's lips. "I'd say she's assessed that situation correctly."

"I asked, well begged really, for her forgiveness. I have a much easier time writing than actually speaking to her. She wrote back how she's still thinking it over. She did admit giving me back my ring was hasty on her part. I guess that means she's forgiven me, at least a little, right?"

"It sounds like it." Seph took a long pull on her beer and then asked the obvious next question. "What are you going to do now?"

"Well, Hermione said to give her some space, which I plan to do. Charlie says she's a romantic and will enjoy some love letters, so I figure I'll write her every few days, continuing to apologise for my mistakes, and reminding her why we fell in love in the first place."

"I think that sounds like a brilliant plan, Harry. Don't push too hard, not yet, but let her know you're not going away without a fight. Let me know if I can do anything to help you, please?"

"Of course, Seph," Harry replied before moving his piece on the chessboard. The reaction from Seph's marker wasn't what he was expecting, as his king was checked and then destroyed. Seph covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"One tip, dear, don't play chess when you're distracted."

At half eight the next morning I made my way downstairs, proud that I'd had enough time to eat a leisurely breakfast before we had to Apparate to the architects' offices. It wasn't until I was stepping into the kitchen that I realized Connor was sitting with Charlie in the breakfast nook. I immediately began to blush when I saw Charlie.

"Harwy, Harwy, you up already?" Connor asked a question he obviously already knew the answer to.

"I am, your Mummy and I have a meeting this morning," I explained as I sat down. Seph's cook, Corinne, set a basket of still steaming blueberry muffins down on the table. Connor immediately reached for one, taking a huge bite.

"Harry, dear, would you like something more than muffins? I've made Charlie some eggs and bangers, would you like some too?" Corinne asked. She had to be in her late sixties, but was as chipper as someone half her age. Her food was delicious as well, and she often spoiled us with our favorites. She must have heard I have a bit of a sweet tooth, as there had been fresh biscuits every day since I'd moved in.

"Some eggs would be great, thanks," I answered. Corinne nodded and went back to the cooker.

"Coffee or tea, Harry?" Charlie asked. I seriously didn't want to look at him. The dragoness must have laid her eggs earlier than expected, because I heard him and Seph during the night. I couldn't look him in the eyes, so I stuffed a muffin in my mouth and then held my finger up, indicating I needed a minute. The action didn't buy me much time, but it did buy a little. I chewed as long as I could before I swallowed, and then took a long pull of the pumpkin juice before me.

"Coffee, thanks," I finally answered, still without looking at him. My cheeks were still on fire and I suddenly just wanted to get out of there.

"Hawry," Connor called and I looked at him. "Why you all rwed? You in the sun too wong yesterday?" All the adults sniggered at little at his question.

"No, little guy, I don't have a sunburn. I'm just a little embarrassed," I explained.

"Why you in barrased? Did you burp? Mummy doesn't wike it when I buwrp out loud. It's okay dough, you just say you sorry," the three year old explained.

"No, I didn't burp. But you are right, when you do, you're supposed to say you're sorry."

"Wish Ron had learned that lesson," Charlie interjected. "Have your heard him burp all the moons of Saturn?" I shook my head, still uncomfortable looking at him. "Harry what is the bloody hell is wrong?"

My shoulders slumped and I put my hand over my eyes, sure I was blushing worse now than I had been five minutes ago.

"I heard you and Seph last night," I finally blurted out.

"Ah, well, sorry about that mate. She was very happy I made it here last night. I'd say we're even after that day in the tool shed last summer," he stated and I realized I'd forgotten about the day he'd walked in while Ginny and I were finding some alone time. He didn't see us, but he most definitely heard us.

"Definitely," I affirmed.

"What did you hear, Hawry?" Connor asked and all of a sudden I was horrified. What the hell was I going to tell a three-year-old? I heard your Mummy and Charlie bumping uglies? I was utterly paralyzed with fear.

"Mummy and Charlie were happy to see each other when I got off work last night," Charlie plainly told him. "We were too loud and we woke up Harry." Connor looked at him for a moment, considering his answer. I never would have thought to just say it plainly like that.

"You need to 'member like me. When Hawry's bedroom dowr shut, you need to whispurr," he said in an exaggerated tone.

"You are absolutely right," Charlie told him with a finger flick to the end of his nose. He then looked up at me. "I think we all need to remember silencing and privacy charms as well?"

"Absolutely," I agreed, thankful that discussion was over.


	34. Chapter 34

****Author's Note: I'm hopeful this will upload correctly, FF is acting a tad wonky this morning. The chapter is quite fluffy, although there are a few little nuggets of importance contained within. I'm having a rough time getting my mojo working on writing right now, thankfully, this story is nearly finished. The song is by Hot Chelle Rae, and I became addicted to it through my daughter. Thanks to my amazing team, especially my hubby; he's my biggest fan and supporter and not a day goes by that I don't love him more and more. Thanks for reading, MNF

**Chapter 34:**

**"Tonight, Tonight"**

**Saturday, May 1, 1999**

**Persephone POV:**

"Hannah, this food looks amazing! It tastes amazing! We are not paying you enough" I smacked my lips as I tasted the final dish. Tonight was the re-opening of the Tap Room and Hannah and her team had done an outstanding job with the food.

"Miss Gwynn, you and Harry pay me more than enough," she retorted. "I'm glad you like the menu. Hopefully the public will as well."

"This isn't your average pub food. This is cuisine, which happens to be served with beer." Never in my wildest imaginings did I think we'd get someone who could create such a unique menu and then also help her team bring it to life. Hannah blushed at the compliment.

"Thanks. I really enjoy working here and doing this, it feels like it's what I'm supposed to be doing."

"You know and completely understand. Oh, and before I forget, thank you so much for that potion recipe last month. I've had horrible cramps since I was a girl, and that potion was the first thing which has ever given me any relief. Who knew soy, St. John's Wort and nutmeg tea would work better than any of the medications or medicinal potions I'd taken before?"

"You're quite welcome," Hannah said proudly. "My mum always swore by it, and it's always brought me relief. Plants are remarkable things." She looked around the kitchen. "I should get back to work. Harry promised to open the doors at seven, and I want the kitchen to be ready."

"I won't keep you, but please come out sometime during the night and let people praise you for your amazing work here," I urged her and she reluctantly agreed. I would make sure I brought her out myself if need be.

I went out the correct door – we'd had to be adamant about people using the properly labeled ones – and into the huge new bar. Candlelight flickered off the brass railings and bar as well as the polished dark wood. The deep red cushions on the chairs looked as soft as they felt, and it gave the room a warmth which would welcome our customers. Harry and Ron were sitting at a table with Charlie and Connor. The four of them were finishing up their suppers before we opened in twenty-two minutes. I was too nervous to eat yet.

"Mummy!" my son cheered when he saw me before he took a drink from his own miniature beer stein. Harry had charmed it for him, and then had bought a fizzy drink for him to enjoy in it. Since Harry's moving in, there wasn't a desire Connor had expressed which hadn't materialized within days. I'd asked Harry to stop spoiling him so, but it was difficult to get to angry at him; the two were growing exceptionally close and Connor was the only thing which made Harry smile. He was missing Ginny deeply. She was yet unwilling to speak to him, although they were writing to one another. Charlie and I had suggested he be patiently supportive while she finished her schooling.

"Did you eat your supper?" I asked as I came closer. Connor nodded happily, using a salad fork to spear another mouthful of the pecan crusted chicken he was sharing with Charlie. I was surprised when I was told what my little boy had chosen to eat. I was certain he'd want bangers and mash. Apparently, Harry had told him about what vegetables did for you, so he wanted to eat them like Harry was. The chicken was designed to be served with the Moonlit Memories, which Charlie was enjoying.

"Yes," Connor enthusiastically cheered. "I ate more veg than Harry."

"Well then I guess you get dessert and he won't." Connor waved his little arms in the air while Harry mock pouted. I wanted the others' opinions of their meals.

"So, the chicken is good?" Charlie nodded. "What about the pork?" Ron was eating the pork tenderloin served over a bed of field greens, all topped with a beer demi-glace. This dish not only featured the MMB brew, but was made to be paired with it or Purple Pleasure.

"This is great, Seph," Ron complimented. "I can't believe Hannah can cook like this."

"We're lucky to have her," Harry said as he wiped his mouth. "I never would have imagined a beer going with blackened redfish, but it's perfect together," he took a pull on his bottle of our newest brew: _Skinny Steam Swig_. Steam beer is a warm fermented beer which gives it a very bubbly taste. Made with lager yeasts, the boiling wort is slowly cooled in large, shallow copper bins out behind the brewery, rather than the rapid chilling refrigeration brings. Thankfully we could charm the bins to keep things from flying or dropping or climbing in. The skinny part came from a charm which removed the bulk of the calories from it. Tonight was the first time we were serving it to the public, but if the staff's reaction was anything to go by, it would be accepted. Hannah had sworn the blackened redfish over chili-cilantro rice and beans would be the perfect match. Apparently, she was correct.

"Hannah paid close attention in her classes about wine and food and adapted those skills for us here," I agreed. "Finish up, and we'll get ready to open this place." I leaned down and kissed my son's head. Charlie surprised me by wrapping his hand around my neck and pulling me to him so he could get a kiss too.

"Oy!" Ron complained, "Do you have to do that where people can see you?"

"Ron, you wouldn't want Hermione to know what you've got stuffed in your bedside table drawer at the Burrow, would you?" Charlie asked and Ron's eyes became wide and he turned as scarlet as the seat cushions and curtains.

"Nope," the younger brother quickly replied. "Go right on snogging," he finished before taking a long sip of his beer.

"You'll have to tell me later when we're alone," I whispered in my lover's ear and he nodded. I righted myself, running my fingers over my lips which were still tingling. "Off to make nice with the staff and patrons."

I enjoyed watching Charlie with his siblings. Their relationships were so different from what I'd ever shared with any of my sisters. They were close, supporting one another through the good and bad. I didn't speak to any of my living siblings, my only positive contact was the yearly holiday card I received from Pandora and Archie. Philomena only communicated with me through the courts, as she was suing me for the family house, farm and titles.

I quickly chatted with the rest of the staff, all of whom had eaten earlier when they sampled everything on the menu. Because of the crowd we were expecting, Susan and her fiancé, Anthony; Padma, Dean and Daphne had volunteered to come in and help where needed.

I'd hired Audrey Abercrombie's older brother, Alvin, to work the bar with Seamus. They made a hilarious pair, even with the differences in their age; Alvin was pushing thirty. There was a Muggle film made about ten years ago about two foul mouthed bartenders who tossed bottles and put on a show while they worked. I had my own version working here. I hoped they'd keep the swearing to a minimum tonight. They were quite respectful when my son was here, often coming up with hilarious alternatives.

For the wait staff, Harry had recommended several people and I'd found a few others through my older staff members Diane and Hank. The most notable was Padma's twin sister, Parvati, who I'd been so impressed with I made her the head of the serving staff. I was certain I'd lose many of these people when the Auror school opened in the fall, but I'd appreciate them while I had them. I planned to start my search for a more permanent staff by midsummer.

I wasn't surprised when Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Percy and Audrey were the first people to walk through the door when Harry opened it. The last of the brothers, George, would be here when he closed his shop on Diagon Alley for the night. In the same way they'd adopted Harry long ago, Connor and I were now unofficial Weasleys. I couldn't help but wonder if we'd someday truly be part of the family. The more I daydreamed, the more I warmed to the idea. Marriage to Charlie would be none of the things I'd been so terrified of.

"I hope you've come hungry," I greeted them. Arthur and Bill both kissed my cheek and Molly hugged me. Fleur was looking very uncomfortable, but glowing nonetheless. Pregnancy definitely agreed with her. "Are you feeling okay?" I asked.

"Yes, 'though I wish zhis little one would find zomewhere to zit other zan my bladder," she explained and I smiled knowingly.

"Connor used mine as a kicking bag," I shared, remembering the last weeks of pregnancy less than fondly. "It's all worth it in the end, however." I looked over to where my son was being cleaned up by Charlie and overwhelming happiness filled me.

"You, dear, look like a woman in love," Arthur whispered to me.

"I am. Thank you."

He put an arm over my shoulders. "What for?"

"For raising such an amazing man. He's made me happier than I ever imagined I would be. I honestly thought I'd live the rest of my life alone. Instead, I have this wonderful man who loves me and my son. You did a very good job as a father. I hope one day someone will say the same to me about my little boy." Arthur blushed as I praised him.

"So," Molly interjected, "does that mean you're going to marry my boy and give me some more grandbabies?" I laughed.

"Molly, dearest, let's take things one step at a time, please." The rest of the Weasleys began laughing even as we made our way to the large table next to where Charlie and Connor were. Connor immediately flew into Molly's arms.

"It's nice to have her pestering someone else about the grandbabies," Bill said, and Charlie looked surprised, then mortified at his comment.

"Love, I'm sorry Mum started -"

"She's being a mum, no harm done," I stopped him. I cast my eyes toward the door and saw the Minister of Magic escorting in Augusta Longbottom. "I need to go greet the pair which just entered. If you'll excuse me?"

Harry and I reached them at the same time, and we chatted for a few moments until Harry took them to their table. The evening progressed in much the same way. We were busy until well after midnight, and when I made last call at two I was pleasantly pleased with how many people were still present.

We'd only had one major mishap during the evening. Two of the staff collided when clearing tables and an entire tray of dirty dishes fell to the floor. Within seconds at least one hundred wands were trained on the mess and it was cleaned up before we knew it.

Once everyone was gone, Harry and I sat down to review the night. Charlie had taken Connor home hours ago and we decided we'd rather converse in the comfort of the lounge at the farm than in the Tap Room.

"Did you get a sense of how much beer we went through tonight?" I asked.

"A lot. Everything was changed at least once. The _Gwen's Grog_ and _Wide Eyed Night_ were our biggest sellers tonight, although the _Skinny Steam Swig_ did well also. Can I ask you something?" I nodded. "Why is it called _Gwen's Grog_? I heard Sirius call you Gwen and I was just wondering about it."

I took a deep breath before I answered. "Persephone is my given name, and my family always called me by my whole name. When my sisters wanted to tease me, they called me Perri, or worse, Perfect Perri. When I was old enough, I was able to convince my friends to call me Seph. When Sirius and I got together, he needed a code name for me, so that he and our friends could discuss me without fear of them spilling my secret. My middle name is Gwendolyn, hence Gwen was born. I liked it better than any of the other names, so he alone called me by it. When he created my beer, there wasn't really a choice in what its name would be. Anyway, we were all about the alliteration, and grog is a good word."

"The food went over well, also," I reported. "We ran out of pizza crust and the venison shanks. What really surprised me, though, was how many of the mascarpone stuffed figs we sold. Who knew strong cheese, figs and honey would be the pudding of the night. We sold more of them than the dark chocolate explosion."

"Guess you're not including both of the explosions you ordered, huh?" he teased me.

"I didn't eat them alone," I corrected him. "But honestly, anything chocolate and I'm there."

"I know, Seph, I know. You going to make any changes to the menu?"

"Hannah and I both agreed to give it a whole month, then go back and assess. Also, as we change what's on tap, we'll change the menu."

"Well, then, it sounds like we have everything in order. Congratulations, partner," Harry complimented and then yawned, which caused me to.

"It's late, and one of us needs to be there when the kitchen opens at ten. I vote for sleep." I flicked my wand and turned the lights off on the first floor and we climbed the stairs. "Oh, and Harry, I'll make sure to put up my Silencing Charm."


	35. Chapter 35

**Author's Note: Hello folks! I need to apologize, I have a slew of reviews in my in-box which I have not answered. My goal is to finally get to them today, but I am so sorry it has taken me so long. There are many things to which I could ascribe it to, but in the end it was simply the day ended and I hadn't gotten there. Real Life is a tad crazy right now. We are nearing the end of the story, only five chapters after this. There will be a sequel, but I need to finish some other projects before I can dedicate my time to this future fic. Thanks to my team, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, even though none of you have heard from me in weeks...I swear I'm alive and writing, just buried under paper right now. The song is by Arcade Fire, and I can't recommend their music enough. Thanks to all of you who've stuck with me this far. MNF**

**Chapter 35:**

**Crown of Love**

**Monday, May 24, 1999**

**Harry POV:**

"I don't know how she's going to feel about everyone ganging up on her," I calmly stated. "The last thing I need to do is make her angry again or let her think her own family isn't on her side." All the Weasleys, plus wives, girlfriends and fiancées were around Seph's massive dining room table. She and Connor were here, along with Luna, Hannah and Susan. Hermione and Luna had employed Neville's help to sneak away tonight. The masses had been brainstorming ideas how to convince Ginny I would never again break a promise to her. The letter writing had gone well, now I needed to woo her back.

"Harry, she's utterly miserable without you," Hermione explained. "She's been very impressed that you've not attempted to smother her, but she misses you. At least ten times a day, she brings you up, and then remembers you're not together."

"Then why doesn't she tell me she wants me back?" I sort of whined.

"'Cause you de one who upswet her, Harwy," Connor piped up. I was being told by a two-year-old how to behave. Maybe I should take his advice, he seemed to have all the women in the room wrapped around his little finger. They laughed, cooed, ooohed and aaahed at every little thing he said. "You had the mister ache."

"When did he stop calling him Uncle Harry?" Hermione asked Ron, who just shrugged. I hadn't noticed until it was pointed out to me that I was just Harry now. It made no difference to me, or to his mum, so we'd never corrected him.

"You're right, Connor, it was my mistake. I've written to her and apologized, which she's accepted. I just … I can't seem to ask her to be my … I don't even know what it is I'm asking her to be. Would she be my girlfriend? Would we go back to being engaged? I can't imagine she'd want to still get married in two months, but … argh!" I ran my hands through my hair, frustrated by the lack of anything else to do.

"Harry, dear, you've got to stop over-thinking this," Mrs. Weasley said. "Women aren't that difficult to figure out." The men in the room, save Connor and Mr. Weasley, all made some sort of remark or noise to show their disagreement with her statement. "I'm glad there's one man in the family," she rebuked our attitudes while wrapping her hand through Mr. Weasley's bent arm. "Arthur, why don't you give all these boys a lesson in how to ask for forgiveness."

Mr. Weasley nodded and then began speaking. "Harry, all of you, it's not just about the words; it's about making the words come alive. One of the worst agreements my dear Mollywobbles and I ever had occurred just after she had found out she was pregnant with the twins. We already had the older three, and she wasn't happy she was having two more. Two days later, I mistakenly assumed it would be all right if I worked over the weekend as I had been for the last few months. That was a poor assumption on my part. Being at home all day with our children was as taxing on her, if not more so, than my being in the office.

"Molly dearest had explained what exactly it took each day to care for the three of you. I had no idea how difficult you could be," he stated while looking from Bill to Charlie to Percy. "How she survived once the next two came along I still don't understand." I'd noticed that the family rarely said Fred's name, although he was referred to often. I'm guessing the name was just too painful.

"I didn't realize some simple household tasks were made that much harder when she was with child, so I got up early the next morning and did them while I let her have a lie in," he calmly explained.

"It was more than just a simple lie in," Mrs. Weasley contradicted. "He got all three boys up, bathed them, fed them breakfast, did the laundry and then got in touch with family and friends asking them to make a casserole or stew for us. My freezer was filled with weeks' worth of food so all I would need to do is charm to eating temperature. I was so excited and impressed with his effort I never brought the incident up again." Fleur, Seph and Hermione all made the same cooing sounds towards Mr. Weasley that they'd made for Connor.

"Isn't that when Heather Lovegood came over to play with us in the afternoons?" Bill asked and we all looked at Luna.

"My mum?" Luna asked and Molly nodded. "What did my mum do for you?"

"You know your father's house isn't far from ours, correct?" Luna nodded. "Your mum was just married and she as yet hadn't settled on a career. Arthur hired her to come over to take care of the boys after their afternoon naps and do some light housework. I had completely forgotten about that," Molly muttered. "Remind me when you're at the house sometime that I have a whole case of things she made with the boys."

"That would be wonderful," Luna gushed.

"Great," I groused. "We can get Luna some toddler art projects her mum supervised, but I still don't know what to do about Ginny. She doesn't need laundry or meals. The only person I could think to hire for her would be someone to sit for her exams, which I'm sure the school would frown upon."

"Harry, we can do without the sarcasm," Seph reminded me. "Perhaps you should take a page out of your father's playbook. He used to sing to your mum?"

"Huh?" My head whipped around to look at her. "What did he sing?"

"Popular songs, both Muggle and wizarding. I think his singing of "Fox on the Run" in full costume with the boys backing him was perhaps the best of all," Seph said and I looked at her, shocked.

"Fox on the Run? As in the song by The Sweet?" Hermione asked and Seph nodded. "Wait, wait, they dressed up as glam rockers?" Seph nodded again. "Do you have any pictures?"

Seph smiled wickedly. "I have something better," she explained before pulling her wand and flicking it in the direction of the back of the house. A moment later her personal stone Pensieve floated into the room and settled itself on the table in front of her. She pulled the silvery wisp from her head and let it settle into the basin. She then prodded the memory with her wand and an image grew up and out of the bowl, like a three-dimensional movie. Memories of the apparition versions of Hermione and myself which grew out of the locket when we were attempting to destroy it came to me, and I shuttered.

The memory was paused and Seph did a charm, amplifying the sound before she let it run. I had never seen Dad look so foolish, but what he was doing made Mum smile and laugh so hard she was nearly crying. She rewarded him with a searing kiss when his display was over. The memory fell back into the bowl and the room was buzzing with excitement and comments

"That was bloody brilliant," Ron cheered.

"Language, Ronald," Mrs. Weasley and Hermione said in unison, which caused the rest of us to laugh more.

"His singing wasn't very good, was it?" I asked.

"No, he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. However, it's part of what made it endearing," Seph explained. "That and the three idiots he had 'dancing' behind him. Girls heard about it throughout the school, and all four of them had more offers than they knew what to do with after that."

"What kind of offers?" George asked. He was, after all, the only brother who wasn't attached.

"For girlfriends, snogs, broom closet sessions, homework help, treats, potions and things which saying aloud would make me blush," she answered.

"Do you think it would work with Ginny?"

"Harry, you make yourself that vulnerable, yes, it will work with Ginny," her mum answered. "Unlike your dad, I think romantic is the way to my daughters heart. She already knows you'll make a fool of yourself for her." I nodded, completely agreeing.

"I know what types of music she likes," I stated, "but no song is coming to mind. Hermione, Luna, what would you say?" The pair looked at each other and nodded, beginning to laugh.

"That song!" they stated in unison.

"What song?"

"It's by this Irish Muggle band. She plays it over and over. We'll get you a copy," Hermione said.

I was excited, until I realized I had no idea when I'd do this. "Do I do this in France, in front of all of her classmates or should it be here, with family and friends around her?"

"Don't do it at school," Hermione warned. "Our relationship with most of the French students is tender and awkward. Do it here, she'll be more comfortable." I nodded, the last thing I wanted was to make Ginny uncomfortable.

"I need some reason for her to want to come back to England. Anyone have an idea for an air-tight situation they'd like to share?" I felt as if I'd deflated.

Seph and Charlie looked at one another in a strange way. All day they'd been acting like there was a secret between them, but given the possibilities of what could be making them excited, I chose not to ask them. Charlie took Seph by the hand and then leaned over to Connor, who was sitting on the other side and told him something. Connor suddenly looked very excited and raised his little hands in the air as if he'd just scored while playing Quidditch.

"Mummy and Charwie have a reason," Connor cheered. He was nearly jumping in his seat how. "Deys gonna have a baby! I's the big brofer!"

The room exploded with well wishes, questions and a rather loud scream from Mrs. Weasley before she got up so fast she knocked her chair to the floor. She almost ran to the couple and hugged them.

"How did this happen?" She was nearly scolding them. Knowing how blunt Seph was when talking about sex, I couldn't wait to see how she'd answer.

"Well, Molly dear, if you don't know how this happened, it might explain how you ended up with seven children," Seph teased and Mrs. Weasley turned bright red. "It happened by accident, again. I had some special tea which caused my birth-control pills not to work correctly."

"When did you find out?" Mrs. Weasley next asked. It was nice for someone else to be enduring her inquisition.

"We found out on Friday," Seph explained. "I'm due in January, not that far after Connor's birthday. We haven't told anyone until now because we needed to talk with Connor first and then decide a few other things."

Before Mrs. Weasley could ask another question, Charlie continued their story. "We talked it over with our little man here, and we've decided we are going to be a family, all four of us, together. Seph and I are getting married." Mrs. Weasley screamed again and this time people were up on their feet hugging the little family. I hugged Seph tightly as she was starting to cry.

"You're okay, right?" I asked as the wetness leaked into the shoulder of my shirt.

"I am, Harry," she whispered in my ear even as I gave her another squeeze. Seph pulled back, but kept her arms in place. "You know this means you, too? I will always be your family, even when Charlie and I are married and this little one comes along." She was so sincere, but I hadn't honestly worried about it.

"Of course. I don't plan on going anywhere," I swore to her. I couldn't imagine my life without her. I let her go so Hermione could hug her, and then Fleur.

When the hugging and congratulations had died down, Charlie slipped into the kitchen and returned with some sparkling juice and glasses. We toasted the couple and then the questions started again.

"So, when are you planning to be wed?" Mr. Weasley asked. Charlie and Seph looked at one another and smiled.

"Sunday," Charlie announced.

"Which Sunday?" Mr. Weasley asked for clarification.

"This."

"As in six days from now?" Mrs. Weasley screeched, sounding like an owl. "How in the world do you plan on getting ready -"

"Mum, calm down," Charlie directed. "We've already got our plans in motion. Yes, we are getting married in six days. Except for all of you, the invitations went out today. We've invited our friends and business associates to a garden party this weekend. We didn't tell them it's a wedding because we want it to be a surprise. The staff here is working on the food, and Seph suggested she and Harry cover the beverages part of the event," Charlie joked and the room laughed, rather than their gobsmacked looks from a moment before.

"Seph spoke with the Regional Magical Registrar to come and preside over the service, and our only attendant will be our son here." Connor puffed up at being called Charlie's son. "Seph has planned a luncheon for Monday at the Muggle brewery to celebrate with them. This is what we want, and we are doing it our way."

"Why are you keeping it secret?" Hermione asked. "Why not tell people they're coming for your wedding?"

"Because many of these people are my employees," Seph stated. "I don't want them to feel obligated to give us a gift. We simply want them with us to share in our happiness."

"So, Harry, think it will be an important enough event to bring Ginny back for?" Bill jokingly asked and I nodded my affirmation. "You going to be okay singing in front of all those people?"

"If it gets her back, I'd go on Top of the Pops and make a fool out of myself," I honestly replied, wondering in the back of my head if I'd be able to pull this off.

Everyone promised their help and we made our final plans for my singing at the reception next Sunday. Everyone left, leaving the four of us in the house. Connor had fallen asleep on Charlie's lap, so he took the little boy up to change his clothes and put him down. I hugged Seph again as we were cleaning up the glasses.

"I know you're not such a fan of marriage," I stated. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Seph smiled sweetly, even as she glowed. "This is marriage out of love, not duty. I want to have that outward sign that I belong to Charlie, and he belongs to me. Are you okay with it? I know you've had some issues with Charlie and me in the past. Are you sad it's not happening with Sirius?"

I thought about it for a few seconds before answering. "I miss Sirius every day, but it's not as bad as it was. I realize now that you can't just hold onto the memories of what you had. You need someone living to truly be in love. Charlie makes you happy. He makes Connor happy and you're not going to let Connor forget that Sirius was a good man, and that your love with him made that sweet kid. I'm sorry I was a prat before. I had no right to be so rude, or to comment on your relationship that way."

"Thank you for apology," Seph told me. "You were slightly childish, but it must have been hard for you, too. You had only just found out about me, about Connor and about who we were to Sirius. Then you had to start sharing me. It must have been uncomfortable for you, especially since Charlie is your girlfriend's big brother. Who wouldn't have a rough time with your future brother-in-law potentially becoming your step-dad?" My mouth dropped at her words. Did she really think of me that way? Not that I wanted to dismiss my mum and dad from my life, or the Weasleys for that matter, but I had come to think of Seph like a surrogate mum. Could she possibly see herself the same way?

"Harry, I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did. I hope I didn't upset you. I know you miss your parents and I would never try to take -"

"Seph, stop," I asked even as I put my finger to her lips. "Did you mean it? Do you think of me as your son?"

"Yes, Harry. I should have been raising you all along. I have loved you since you were born. Had I been able to care for you, I would have treated you like my child all along. These last months, being able to be so close," she paused, nearly crying. "I would understand if you do not think of me that way, but know I love you as much as I love Connor." I pulled her to me and was nearly crushing her into my chest.

"I think of you the same way," I was able to utter before I let the tears fall. We were crying and hugging and I felt more at peace than I'd been in a very long time. I saw Charlie come down the stairs, look at us, and then go right back up. I'd have to thank him for that later.

"Harry, there's something else I need to ask you," she stuttered through the hiccups which had started due to her weeping.

"Anything."

"Would you give me away at my wedding?"


	36. Chapter 36

**Author's Note: Hello all, this romantic chapter is dedicated to my dear hubby. Aspects of the wedding are a tribute to just how much I love him and how lucky I am to have him in my life. There are two songs and two points of view, as Harry had some things he needed to add to the chapter. The first song is by Coldplay, the second by Colbie Caillat. I promise, Harry's singing is in Thursday's chapter. Thanks to my team and to all of you who are reading. I appreciate you so much. MNF**

**Chapter 36:**

**Paradise/I Do**

**May 30, 1999**

**Harry POV:**

Charlie and I returned to the farm at about half nine on the morning of the wedding. The Weasley brothers and I had taken Charlie to a Quidditch match last night; his favourite team - Puddlemere United - against Ron's favourite - The Chudley Cannons. Since it was our version of a stag night, it was good Puddlemere won, although the only one who wasn't certain of Puddlemere's triumph before the match was Ron. We'd then retired to his house to imbibe in the brewery's best and eat too much. We'd all spent the night there, the brothers reminiscing until near dawn. Connor was with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, spending the night at the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was helping him with a 'project' to give to his parents today. Fleur, Audrey, Hermione and Ginny had taken Seph to the Belfry House spa and then they spent the night there together in their own version of a hen party.

The farm was buzzing with excitement when we arrived. Beaghy had the staff hard at work in the kitchen, preparing the food for after the wedding. A separate contingent of the staff, led by Corinne, was working on the foods for before the wedding. Long tables to hold the culinary delights the outdoor crew was whipping up had already been set up in the drive which curved around the barn. The more formal food would be served from the dining room.

The courtyard garden would be hidden from the guests as they arrived, and it too was being prepared. White chairs were being put into place under the whitewashed pergola which had been erected yesterday. Seph had hired a floral design team to decorate the area, and I was surprised how different it looked. Flimsy material in white and pale green had been woven through the large beams of the pergola. Pale pink flowers were intermingled with the material.

"Wow!" I exclaimed as we rounded the corner to the courtyard. "This doesn't look like the same garden Connor flies his motorbike in."

"It most certainly does not," Charlie agreed. "Why, I think it looks like someone is getting married here today." We both laughed. The guests were invited to arrive at eleven, with the meal being served at noon. Instead, the nuptials would be taking place.

We went through the house, finding Seph and Connor calmly playing with his castle playset. I'd never seen a bride more relaxed than she appeared. We chatted for a while before Charlie and Seph went down to welcome their guests, never letting on that they were marrying in less than an hour. I stayed with Connor, going over our jobs for the day. We then went downstairs, and I stayed close to the little guy, just to make sure he didn't spill the beans.

At half eleven, they disappeared into the house and went upstairs. Seph would be getting ready with the help of the girls who'd taken her out last night in the master suite. Bill had taken Charlie to the second floor guest room.

When they were gone, I took Connor by the hand and we walked to the barn area. I lifted him up onto a chair and cast the Sonorus charm to make sure he could be heard.

"Ebweybody, me and Harwy have something to tewl you," Connor called out and people chuckled and then quieted down to listen to him.

"Dis isn't just a party, dis is my Mummy and my Charwie's wedding! You awl get to come!" There was confusion in the crowd, so I cast the charm on myself and spoke up.

"Connor's right," I spoke clearly and slowly. "Persephone and Charlie are going to be wed in thirty minutes in the courtyard. They've gone to change into their wedding clothes. Please, continue to enjoy the hors d'oeuvres and we will see you shortly."

There was clapping, cheering and all around happiness. I lifted Connor down and he ran to Mrs. Weasley, who was going to help him get into his little suit. Mr. Weasley tipped his head to toward me before he Disapparated away. He and his wife had arranged some surprised guests for Seph. I hoped they made her happy. Before I could slip into the house, Chris stopped me.

"Harry, is there time to get my sister? I know she'd want to be here to see Seph get married, even if she's confused as to why it's not Sirius."

"We can help her understand, but I think it would be a great idea. Seph would be so touched. I'll make sure we don't start before you get back. If you think she'll be okay, then by all means, go and pick her up."

Chris grasped my shoulder with his hand. "Thanks, I'll be back as quickly as I can."

Ron, George, Percy were already changing into their wedding clothes in my room. Seph never liked robes and none of us were surprised when she opted to buy a Muggle gown rather than dress robes. Because of this, Charlie had opted for a Muggle leisure suit. If the groom wasn't going to wear dress robes, the brothers and I happily opted for suits of our own. The three brothers I was with, as well as Bill, needed to get downstairs quickly to help with seating the guests.

I pulled my new black suit from the garment bag, gave it a quick charm to remove any wrinkles and put it on. Seph had recently introduced me to the world of high end shopping, and the suit I was wearing had cost quite a bit, but Seph promised a well made, well cut suit was something no man should be without. The shopping trip was far better than the second hand shops Aunt Petunia had taken me to, or even robe shopping at Madame Malkin's. Apparently, if you're going to spend a lot of money, the stores make the experience enjoyable. They even served us wine and snacks!

I could the sounds of people being seated and the gentle music the string quartet had started. Only ten minutes were left by the time I was fully dressed. I opened my bedroom door, and was surprised to see Ginny coming out of Connor's playroom. She'd changed into a very beautiful green sundress and pulled her hair up into an elaborate knot on the top of her head. We'd seen each other briefly over the weekend, but we hadn't really had time to discuss anything. We had agreed to have tea this evening before she had to return to school.

"Ginny, you're beautiful. You might be prettier than the bride," I complimented her. She made my heart melt when she blushed while shaking her head.

"Impossible," she retorted. "Seph looks amazing, and she's glowing from her pregnancy already; but thank you."

"Is everyone ready?"

"She's waiting in her room for you. You look very handsome, Harry," she told me quietly. I wanted to say something else to her. I really wanted to just pull her to me and kiss her, but before I could do anything, she turned and nearly ran down the hallway to the rear stairs. I ignored my urge to follow her and instead made it the rest of the way to Seph's door and knocked.

"Who is it?" Seph cheerfully asked from the other side.

"It's Harry, you ready for me to come in?"

"Come on in," she chirped and I opened the door and slipped into the room. Fleur was putting the final touches on her hair. Seph looked simply stunning.

Persephone POV:

The look on Harry's face confirmed I'd picked the correct dress. I knew I'd need to wear something off the rack, since we'd only given ourselves six days to prepare. I'd hastily arranged a Portkey to New York City for Molly and me, to visit my favourite designer's shop. The variegated blue dress was pale at the shoulder straps, and progressively got darker until it reached the floor. The empire waist floated gently over my stomach and hips, hiding a multitude of figure flaws. Off the beaded belt on the right side, a dramatic drape arced from just below my breast before attaching at my left hip. The apex of the semi-circle was almost to my knees.

I had paired the dress with deep blue satin court shoes with a rhinestone buckle on top. I had to call in some serious favours to get the Manolo Blahnicks I was wearing; they were perhaps the most sought after shoe of the spring. While I don't generally throw my money around, it is helpful when you need to have the perfect thing for the perfect day. The four inch heels would put Charlie and me nearly eye to eye. I was wearing my great grandmother Engelsley's diamond and sapphire necklace, earrings and tiara.

Harry was just staring at me, not saying anything. I wasn't sure he was still breathing.

"Harry, Harry," I called his name while snapping my fingers. "Are you okay?"

He quickly came around. "Yeah, sorry Seph, it's just you look so beautiful. Charlie isn't going to know what hit him."

"That's what I was going for. Are we ready?"

"Let me just check a few things, and then I think we are," he told me before he quickly went to the mezzanine accessible from the door by the en-suite loo. He must have seen what he was searching for, as a minute later he was back by my side. "Everyone is in place. You ready to get married?"

"Absolutely." I could barely contain my excitement. "Thank you, Harry, for giving me away. Connor is a little young to do this, but know I consider you acting on behalf of you both, for the betterment of our little family."

"I'm happy to do it. Seeing you happy and embracing life, it gives me hope. I wrapped my boy in my arms and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Connor has the rings on his pillow, right?" I suddenly remembered.

"Yes, and they're magically attached, so he can't lose them. The registrar will use his wand to remove the spell," he confirmed, and my last worry was gone. "Let's get you downstairs so you can be married."

Harry escorted me down the rear stairs, so I wouldn't be visible to those gathered in the courtyard. Molly was waiting to give me my bouquet of white peonies and pink cabbage roses along with a hug of motherly confidence. She was hardly old enough to be my Mum, but it felt good to have someone giving me that type of love again. She quietly slipped to her seat.

Ginny started the ceremony with my favourite poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Her gentle voice lilted over the romantic words: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." she continued. Harry's breath caught as he listened to her speaking of such deeply passionate love.

"She still feels that way about you," I whispered to him. "When she was helping me get ready, she told me how she wished today was your day with her. Don't lose hope, please."

"Smiles, tears, all of my life! - and, if God choose, I shall love thee better after death." The reading concluded and I had to wipe away a lone tear. I was only able to marry Charlie with the knowledge that Sirius approved. Love was altered by death, but not discontinued by it. My love for Sirius might be in the past, but it too would be part of me until I died.

The gentle movement of Bach's Air on a G String began and Harry walked me out of the house, under the floral and fabric draped pergola, to the small marquee where Connor and Charlie were awaiting me in their matching light brown suits, white shirts and blue ties. Connor was bouncing on the balls of his feet and Charlie stared at me, his face alight with joy.

When we reached the front, the quartet played for a moment longer. When they stopped Connor came up and held my other hand.

"Who presents this woman to be married?" the registrar asked.

"Her son, Connor, and I do, sir," Harry answered.

"Yup," Connor chimed in, even though he wasn't supposed to say anything now. "We's happy Charwie is in wove with Mummy." Our guests chuckled at my son's antics. Harry kissed my cheek, and then presented my hand to Charlie before going to sit in the front row. Connor came over and took my other hand, weaving his little fingers into my larger ones. Sandwiched between two of the most important men in my life, the third seated just behind me, I couldn't think of a better place to be.

I was surprised by the voice which started in on the second reading. Chris was supposed to do this reading, instead it was a feminine voice. I looked over to see my eldest sister, Paderau, reading instead.

"Your marriage should have within it a secret, a protected place, open to you alone." My sister read the anonymous passage about a walled garden. It was the first of the four passages we'd discovered while doing research, and I fell in love with it instantly, especially since we were being married in such a lovely garden space. Looking slightly to the left of Paderau I saw the rest of my sisters. Tears fell down my cheeks at the sight of them. I hadn't seen any of them in years. Philomena was even here, which shocked me slightly, as she was suing me for the farm. It didn't matter, they were here and supporting me. My heart felt like it would explode with happiness. "So take each other's hand and go back to your garden. Time spent together is not wasted, but invested. Invest in your future and the nurture of your love."

"If you will turn and face one another, your left hands holding each other, and your right doing the same underneath," the registrar directed us. Connor had grabbed onto my gown with one hand, the pillow dangling off his wrist with the elastic on the back. I was ever so thankful for the charm. Charlie and I had memorized our chosen vows. I hoped I remembered, although the officiant promised he'd help if we had problems.

"I promise to love and respect you," Charlie started, "and to put energy into keeping our love alive. I will be there for you in good times and bad. I will help you when you need help and make space for you to be yourself. I will try to bring you happiness.

"I will dedicate myself to you wholeheartedly. I will make time for you and support you in everything you do. I will help you to raise our children to become loving people, and support you in the fundamental role of mother.

"I, Charlie, vow to you, Persephone, that I will try to bring laughter to your life, and make you happy. I will consider you in the decisions I have to make, and will value your opinion. Today I solemnly swear to be your husband for as long as we both shall live."

I'd seen the vows on paper, but hearing them in Charlie's beautiful baritone made them that much more moving. I took a steadying breath before I began my identical ones.

When I'd said mine, the registrar reached for Connor's pillow just as an unexpected bit of music started. Pandora and her husband Archie had stood up and were singing one of my favourite folk songs from childhood. As I Walked Through the Meadow was about a couple who meet by chance one spring day, and run out to be married as soon as they could. Dora's lilting soprano blended perfectly with Archie's tenor and the gentle plucking of his guitar provided the perfect accompaniment.

We were each given our rings and we slipped them onto the correct finger. I had a little trouble with Charlie's knuckle, but a few twists and the ring slid down to the base of his finger. Connor immediately reached up and ran his finger around the simple platinum bands we'd chosen.

We had a surprise for Connor now, since there was more than Charlie and me in our new family. Harry stood and started reciting a bit from The Velveteen Rabbit, one of our son's favourite stories. It was about what made you real, and love being the catalyst for realness. I knew the moment my son recognized the passage. His face lit up and he looked up at Charlie and me.

Harry's face was trained on Ginny as he continued to read: "When someone loves you for a long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real. 'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit. 'Sometimes' said the Skin Horse. 'When you're real you don't mind being hurt' … the reading continued. I stole a look at Ginny, she was weeping now, and Molly had her arm around her daughter. If the couple weren't reconciled by the end of the day, I'd eat my fancy shoes.

When Harry sat back down, Charlie and I each reached for Connor's hands. We hadn't told him, but we were going to pledge ourselves as his parents, and ask him to affirm our family. I knew he wanted this, but we also wanted him to feel as important today as we were.

"Connor, you are my precious little boy. Today, I marry Charlie and make him my husband. By doing so, he's also taking a place in our house and in our family. Connor I vow to always love you, to listen to you and to take what you say into consideration. In return, I ask you love and respect both Charlie and me. Will you do that?"

My sweet child looked up at me with his big green eyes and nodded his head. "I promise, Mummy. I wobe you," he said and I mouthed back the words. He looked up at Charlie, "I wobe you, too, my daddy-Charwlie."

"I love you, too, Connor," Charlie answered, a tear clinging to his lashes. "I'm marrying your Mummy today, and making her my wife. I want you to remember your first Daddy, and how much he loved you. I hope that you'll let me fill in for him as you grow up. I promise to listen to you and do my best at taking care of you. I'm starting this a little later than your Mummy, so if I make mistakes, I hope you'll help me learn. Will you let me learn to be your Dad?"

"Sure, daddy-Charwie. You awready doin' a good job."

"That makes me feel really happy, Connor." Charlie bent down and lifted our son up and hugged him. I wrapped my arms around my boys and kissed my son's cheek.

"The bride and groom had chosen a closing reading, but I think the words they've already shared do a much better job. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Charles Septimus, Persephone MacPhearson and Connor Sirius Weasley," the registrar announced and there was a burst of happy applause. "Charlie, you may now kiss your bride."

I don't think I've enjoyed a kiss more in my entire life.

"We's a famiwy! Stop kissin' so we can eat!" Connor exclaimed and we stopped our snog to smile and laugh at the joy in our little boy's directive.


	37. Chapter 37

**Author's Note: Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for. The song was originally done by U2, however if you want a more accurate sound, find the Vitamin String Quartet and give it a listen. Thanks to my team, and to all my readers. Hope this lives up to your expectations. MNF**

**Chapter 37:**

**All I Want Is You**

**Ginny POV:**

I had been to my share of weddings. I'd even been in a few family ones as a child, but the one I'd just been part of might have been the most romantic, most loving and fairy tale-like of them all. Seph had all but given up on finding love again, resigning herself to being alone and raising her son by herself. Charlie had confided he wasn't sure there was a girl out there for him. Every woman he'd dated had either thought him too intense, or when he did let his hair down, too playful. They just didn't seem to get that beyond the gruff exterior my brother exuded was a very sensitive, smart and devoted man. The two of them, together, made sense and I couldn't believe just how happy they were.

Mum was sitting next to me, her arms wrapped tightly around me as we witnessed the end of the ceremony, Charlie pledging to support Seph as Connor's mum and promising to work to be a good dad. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. We all loved Connor already, but now he was officially part of the Weasley family. None of us knew whether Connor would take Weasley as his surname, but knowing how Seph did things, she had probably left the choice up to her son. I knew he didn't have a middle name, so perhaps giving him his biological father's name and then his adoptive father's last name was what Connor chose. He was a frighteningly insightful child. All Mum had been talking about in recent years was her wanting grandbabies; now she had one, and within a year there'd be two more.

Mum and Dad stood up to hug the happy family and I leaned back in my seat, just watching them all. Harry was right there, swept up in the kisses, congratulations and embraces. Hermione and Ron had been in the row behind us, and I felt her rest her chin on my shoulder.

"You know, I think she's finally allowing herself to be really happy," Hermione whispered in my ear.

I turned my head slightly to the side to speak with her? "Who, Seph?"

"No, your Mum. Think about it, for the last year she would smile, but her eyes were never involved. Now, she's just ... joyful. I think she's finally allowing herself to live after Fred's death."

"I suppose you're right. I think George is too," I added with a tip of my head. He was joking with Ron and Harry, who was holding Connor. I watched my brothers with Harry, then concentrated on how he was with little Connor. It hurt so much to see him happy, and know it had nothing to do with me. We'd done nothing but nod heads at each other since I had come home on Friday.

"Ginny, why don't you just talk with him? I know you miss him and you want to forgive him. He really has changed, a lot, since that day. Living with Seph and Connor has given him a sense of," she paused as if searching for a word, "safety. He didn't remember what it felt like to have someone support and love him. He has that now. It's given him a peace I wasn't sure he could have."

"I know, I can see it in him," I told her quietly. "He had an air of completion when I saw him at the memorial service I wasn't expecting. It's like he's done searching. Maybe he doesn't need me anymore?" I couldn't look at her or anyone anymore. I didn't want to start crying again, especially if they weren't tears of joy but rather of loneliness.

"Ginny, really? Just take a peek at him," Hermione urged and when I looked at Harry, he was staring at me, his face full of longing. I could feel him wanting me even from this distance. I was ready to stand up and go to him, when the guests were told to head into the house to begin enjoying the buffet while the families were going to have pictures taken. I had lost my opportunity.

The pictures felt like they took forever. Given the sizes of both couples' families, it was a feat of engineering to get everyone into the frame. Then Fleur needed to sit, and Connor started getting restless, then one of Seph's sisters began to complain. Finally the experience was over, and I doubt any of us wanted to see the photographer's face again in the next few hours.

I joined the festivities. The house-elves had erected a marquee at the front of the house while everyone else was off to the side for the ceremony. Food had been set up in three long buffet tables inside the dining room, and the seating was in the marquee.

Dad and Harry both toasted the happy couple. The food was remarkable and I ate so much my dress began to feel tight around my mid-section. I did a hasty charm, letting the seams out ever so slightly so I could continue to breathe, and enjoy some of the wedding cake.

Seph and Charlie were very careful in feeding each other the first bites of cake, but when Connor took his turn, he smashed it into his parents' faces. They both then kissed his little round cheeks, transferring the icing to his face as well. They slipped out to get cleaned up and Connor came back in more comfortable clothing. It was nearly his nap time, but he obviously wasn't going to go down anytime soon. I could only imagine what he'd be like tonight when he was overtired and coming down off his sugar high.

The quartet began playing and Seph and Charlie danced with each other to the song _In__My__Life_. I knew Charlie was a Beatles fan, but it turned out Seph was too. They looked in their own world while they danced. Then Seph danced with Harry and Daddy took me out the floor while Mum and Charlie danced. The song ended and I went to make my way back to where Hermione, Luna and Neville were standing when Charlie grabbed one hand and Seph took the other and they led me to the edge of the dance floor. I was baffled when Harry went to stand with the quartet.

"I made a horrible mistake a few months ago," Harry said and I froze. I didn't want our apology to be so public. We'd been careful not to let the press know, as Harry could only imagine what would happen to him if people thought he were unattached. "I let the one person whom I love more than anything in this world down. With all of my heart, I swear I will never do it again." That was all it took for the waterworks to begin again.

The quartet started the song, the viola and cello playing a familiar rhythm, then he started singing. I had no real idea Harry could sing. Beyond the few sort of bar songs and the Hogwarts anthem, I'd never heard him do it. He'd often said he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket; he was disproving that sentiment quite resoundingly. He had a beautiful voice.

"_You__say__you__want__diamonds__and__a__ring__of__gold.__You__say__you__want__your__story__to__remain__untold.__But__all__the__promises__we__make,__from__the__cradle__to__the__grave,__when__all__I__want__is__you,_" he sang and I started to hyperventilate. I'd played this song over and over at school, always thinking of him when I did. I didn't love 'The Boy Who Lived: Harry Potter', I was in love with Harry, the quiet boy with the intense sadness in his eyes.

He continued singing, and I just cried harder and harder. As the song came to its climax, he walked over to me, took my hand and pulled me onto the floor with him. I twined my fingers with his and allowed myself to be taken to the centre. As the quartet finished the song he began to sway back and forth, his hands on my hips. Mine made it to his shoulders of their own volition. Without thinking I kissed him passionately. It wasn't until there was clapping I remembered the audience we had. We both blushed wildly.

Charlie pulled Seph onto the floor, whispered something into Harry's ear and he pulled me away from the crowd in the dining room and into the house proper. Beaghy was keeping her eye from in her own little set of rooms, which were sandwiched between the kitchen and dining room. People weren't supposed to be in the house, the exception being my family and the newly formed family who lived here.

Harry waved at Beaghy, who simply smiled and nodded her head as we made our way to the stairs. When we reached the landing I stopped to kiss him again. We were both laughing from overwhelming happiness as we made our way to his room. I felt complete and filled and just right, now that I was holding Harry's hand. His green eyes were dancing and he playfully spun me around. Once inside his room, the door sealed and a silencing charm went up, we settled down to some more serious snogging.

After however long it was, when we finally broke apart from one another to breathe, I suggested we slow down and talk a little. I needed assurances he wasn't ever going to break another promise with me.

"Ginny, I just...I hated doing that to you, I really did. I couldn't think about anything other than bringing Sirius back. I never considered the consequences of my actions or how it might hurt someone else. It was so stupid of me." It wasn't his words which made me believe his apology, but rather the tone of his voice and the maturity in his eyes. More than defeating Voldemort a year ago, this experience had made Harry grow up.

"I can see you're telling me the truth, Harry," I confided. "I want to take you back. I want you so badly, but part of me still doesn't trust you." He looked hurt but resigned when I said this.

"What do I have to do? Tell me and I will do it."

"It isn't something you can do now," I explained. "You're going to have to do it a little every day. You show me you respect me and you honour me and then I will trust you completely again." He smiled at my answer.

"Then that is exactly what I will do. I swear, I will never give you reason to doubt me again."

"Excellent," I replied before leaning into him for another snog. Some time later, Harry suggested, reluctantly, that we return to the party.

"One thing, before we head down there, would you like to have this back?" he reached under his shirt and tie and pulled out a long chain on which my engagement ring was hanging. "I know we're not going to get married in two months, but can you at least wear it with the understanding we are going to get married, someday?"

"Of course, Harry. I feel a little naked without it," I told him. If he hadn't suggested it, I would have asked for the ring back soon. He unfastened the clasp of the chain and slipped the ring off. Then he slid it back onto my hand, and I felt like I could release a breath I'd been holding for nearly two months. Another long snog and we finally forced ourselves from the room. I know I would have rather stayed, but he was right, we needed to get back to the group.

Charlie POV:

"You know, Mrs. Weasley, you look more stunning than I had ever imagined," I cooed in my wife's ear as we danced. It was nearly four in the afternoon, and about half the guests had left. Those who remained were our close friends and family.

"You flatter me so, husband, I don't know if I can remain on my feet," Seph teased back. If anyone had told me a year ago I'd be back living in so close to home, married with a son and another child on the way, I would have suggested they'd been dosed with a powerful hallucinogenic potion. I doubted I could ever be happier than I was in this minute. "Of all the things I've ever been called and all the names I've had, there is nothing as wonderful as hearing you say Mrs. Weasley." Words so sweet from my wife deserved a kiss. Our lips lingered and I wished we could throw everyone out so I could take her on our short honeymoon.

With everything going on with Harry, Seph didn't feel right about leaving the country, so we had chosen to take a longer trip in the fall, after Harry's enforced visit was over. Couple those issues with Fleur being close to popping out the first niece or nephew any of us would have, it was better to stay close to home. Mum and Dad were going to stay here tonight and I was taking my wife to our new house in Wales. We called the cottage our own private getaway and had no intention to be rid of it.

"We shouldn't be making such a spectacle of ourselves," she quietly whispered even as her lips lingered less than an inch from mine. "We do still have guests."

"Let them talk if they must," I whispered as I slid my nose along her jaw line. "We are newlyweds and we're allowed to be foolishly romantic today. It's our duty to be so."

"Well then, we wouldn't want to shirk on such duties, would we?" she responded with a devious smile on her face. Another perfect snog followed. We definitely needed to be leaving soon.

When we had to stop kissing, as we were going to get far too impassioned for a public space, I spun her around, admiring the dress, shoes, tiara and the glow of her skin. I knew she was alit from inside, from growing our amazing little one; most of our guests simply thought it was love.

"Your dress fits you perfectly," I complimented her, "the way it floats over you in the perfect way. You stole my breath when I saw you." I wasn't embarrassed by the confession, Seph knew I'd move heaven and earth to see her smile. I spread my hand wide over her abdomen, knowing it was home to our as of yet tiny child. "No one could figure out you are pregnant."

"Well, the dress is very figure forgiving but I think it's more that I'm not showing yet. It's only been about six weeks," she explained with a slight smile. "I was thankful the bodice doesn't plunge much. My breasts are getting very tender and sore."

"Well then, tonight I will pay them extra attention."

Seph struggled to hold her giggle in. "I'm sure you will."

"Why blue? Didn't you want to wear a white wedding gown?" Seph got an adorable smile on her lips at the impending response.

"Well...I figured I'd blown the whole 'virginal white dress' being that I already had one child and I'm currently pregnant now," she quipped. "Then, I remembered this poem from when I was small, about colored wedding dresses. Wear brown, you'll leave town. Wear yellow, you'll be embarrassed of your fellow. Wear green, you never want to be seen. Wear red and you'll wish you were dead," she explained and I nodded.

"None of those sound like good things," I quipped back.

"Wear blue, and you'll always be true," she told me in a much softer tone. "I decided I wanted a blue gown. This is the first dress I saw; I knew it was perfect when I put it on. Your Mum agreed, and that's history."

"She loved going with you," I explained. "She'd never been to New York or to a bridal boutique."

"I didn't really have anyone else to take. I'm glad she enjoyed herself." I kissed my wife again, thanking her for being kind to my Mum. Harry and Ginny came down from upstairs, holding hands, flush faced and hair just a little out of place. I smiled at them and Ginny blushed. They joined us on the dance floor and I leaned to whisper in her ear.

"I think Harry and Ginny have worked things out." Seph turned her head to look and broke out into a huge smile.

"Good, everyone should be in love." I spun her around and held her close. I couldn't agree more.


	38. Chapter 38

**Author's Note: Down to the end, friends, at least for this story. There are bits of important stuff for the next story thrown into these last chapters, so if you catch them you'll guess where the sequel is headed. Please remember that if you've dismantled the Personal Messaging on your account, I can't respond to your review. The song is by No Doubt. Thanks to everyone who is reading and taking time to review. MNF PS: Peter, this beer is for you.**

**Chapter 38:**

**Just A Girl**

**June 30, 1999**

**Ginny's POV:**

I couldn't wait to get back to the Tap Room, which had recently been renamed by Harry "Stag, Dragon and Flaming Crown", harkening to the names of famous pubs throughout the country. It was named for Seph, Charlie and himself, as they were now the three primary owners of the breweries and the subsidiaries. For their wedding, Harry had given Sirius's portion back to Connor, and then insisted the three adults be equal partners. Miss Houghton's care would still be taken care of from the profits, but he wanted them all to feel as if the breweries were theirs. It showed just how far Harry had come to me; he no longer needed to cling to the specifics his mother, father and godfather had set up twenty years previously, but rather moved ahead with a new plan which reflected the current status of the breweries.

While I was happy I'd chosen to complete my schooling, I was glad it was done now. I'd taken both the local exams for Beauxbatons, as well as the international standard examinations, and had excelled at both. Any career path I desired could be mine. There was only one which truly interested me. It had nothing to do with my intellectual skill, and everything to do with my flying abilities. I was on my way to see Harry and tell him my fondest wish – besides being with him – had come true. I had been picked up by the _Holyhead__Harpies_ as a Chaser. I would be going to training camp starting on 15 August. While it cut down on the free time Harry and I would have, I knew in my heart this was the right thing for my life.

It was still early in the morning, only half nine, but I knew Seph and Harry would be at the magical brewery already. Production had been shut down on Monday so that the machines could be cleansed and prepared for the summer brews. The cleaning completed yesterday, Harry was helping to get everything restarted. They'd gone in early, as Seph had an appointment with the Healer this afternoon regarding the baby. Charlie and Connor would accompany her, then they would join my whole family at the Burrow to replay the memories for anyone who wanted to see. Where Fleur had been very protective of her privacy while she was pregnant with Victoire, Seph and Charlie let everyone in on their secrets. Seph claimed she didn't know if it was a boy or girl she was carrying, but she always made that claim with a smirk on her face, like she knew more than she was telling us.

When I stepped into MMB, I was immediately infected with the mood of the place. There was raucous laughter spilling out from behind the bar as Alvin and Seamus were stocking the shelves and singing something or another while the wait staff was preparing the dining area. Susan waved cheerfully at me, quickly ending the call she had taken on her cell phone. Seph had purchased them for all of us, and we quickly decided it was much better to communicate this way rather than through coins or stones.

"Ginny, glad to see you this morning," she happily greeted. "Harry's on the floor. They just started the run on something new."

"Excellent, I knew they were going to work on a new beer, but I didn't think it was even close to being ready. Hmm, I wonder what it's like?" Harry had a knack for creating beers, Seph would tinker with them just a little, and then they put them to a test run. So far everything they'd come up with as a pair had been amazing. They were almost as good at creating things as Fred and George had been in their heyday with Weasley Wizard Wheezes. It didn't hurt so much to remember Fred now. I'd like to think he's laughing right along with us in heaven.

"Go and ask him," she suggested and I nodded, heading for the glass doors which led to the clean room and then brew floor beyond. In the clean room I charmed myself thoroughly, and then slipped the little booties and an extra lab coat on before heading toward the vats. The room was warm today, as they were cooking and fermenting. It didn't take me long to find Harry and my stomach clenched into a happy knot at the sight of him; eyes closed, swirling wort around in a ladle and giving it a good sniff.

"Hello, Harry," I called to him, not wanting to walk up and frighten him while he was holding the steaming wort. He opened his eyes and turned in the direction I entered from. His green orbs danced when he saw me, his mouth immediately upturning into a beaming smile. I returned it happily, even as I skipped forward to greet him with a kiss. It turned a tad more passionate than one should be at work, so I deftly pulled away. It wasn't that I didn't want to snog, I was just planning on taking it to his office so we could do it properly. "I thought Seph did the sniff tests?"

"Ah, well, she tried, but, there was a little problem," Harry sort of danced around his answer.

"What?"

"The smell made her want to vomit."

"Ah, the joys of pregnancy. It's not all beer is it? I mean, she can still be in the building, right?"

"Nope," Harry said as he shook his head. "The smell of beer has her running for the loo. She seems to be fine when she's in the office suite, but I saw her put up a Bubble-Head Charm yesterday, so I have no idea if she's just trying to put the best front up."

"I don't believe it, she owns two breweries, and the smell of beer is what makes her sickest. Honestly I think that baby is attempting to torture its poor mummy even before it's born. It's obviously Charlie's child." Harry wrapped his arm around my shoulder and looked at me seriously.

"I think Seph likes a challenge from the men in her life," he explained quietly.

"It's a boy, you know?"

"What, no, that's not what I meant at all. Where did you get that from?" Harry was both alarmed and distraught. I started laughing at him and his anxious response.

"You said the men in her life, I just figured given the problems the baby is making, they were male as well," I explained, still stifling my laughter.

"Don't do that to me, love. She'd kill me if I told." Harry must have realized what he said because he froze, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. Seph did know something and she'd shared it with Harry.

"You know, don't you? You know what Charlie and Seph are having!"

"Ginny, I won't tell you. I found out by accident and I promised Seph I wouldn't say anything to anyone, even you. I'm sorry." He sounded sincere, but I didn't like him having a secret he wouldn't share with me. This is how we got into problems before.

"I don't like you keeping secrets from me," I stated.

"Ginny, I would tell you, but Seph thinks Charlie and Connor should know before anyone else does. They did some test on the baby's blood, and they know what sex it is. I wouldn't have found out, except that the lab reports were sitting on Seph's desk and I picked them up along with the monthly sales run. Please, can you just trust me on this? I can't break her confidence, Ginny. She believed in me when no one else ‚–" my heart softened at his explanation. I pressed my fingers to his lips.

"Harry, I understand now. When she's ready, Seph will let us all know. Until then, you're not allowed to gloat. Are you at least happy about the news?" Harry kissed my fingers before I removed him, allowing him to answer.

"I would have been happy regardless of what they were going to have. I just want the baby to be healthy and Seph to be okay when all this is over. It'll be great to have another little person running around, like Connor, getting into everything. I'll have to baby proof Grimmauld Place before I move back in."

"So, you're going to live there again?" I asked, unsure that I wanted to live there with him. The house gave me the collywobbles, even with the work Harry had put into it.

"It's a little awkward living with Seph and Charlie. They're newlyweds, and even with her being pregnant and the morning sickness and everything, they're still acting like newlyweds. I think I'd like to have my own place when my court-dictated visit is over. Since I already own Sirius's house, I don't feel compelled to buy anything else," he explained as we stepped from the brew floor back into the clean room and removed the protective outer garments. From there we walked into the office suite, and toward the back where Harry and Seph had their private offices. Seph was lying on her couch, sort of moaning when we walked by.

"Seph, you need anything?" Harry asked, taking a few hesitant steps into the room and then kneeling in front of her. She groaned a little louder at Harry's entrance.

"Peppermint tea ... on my desk," she half asked, half moaned. I came in and picked it up for her, joining Harry on the floor by her. Her eyes half opened when she smelled the mug, and reached for it. "I didn't know you were here, Ginny."

"That's okay, I just got here," I explained. "Why don't you go home? Or go over to the Burrow and let Mum take care of you. You're green, Seph."

"It's just morning sickness."

"Yeah, well your "morning" sickness lasts until nearly dark," Harry reminded her. "If there's an emergency, I can call you at home. Go take care of yourself, you've earned some free time."

"Maybe," she whimpered, "when I can stand."

"Well, I'm not leaving you alone," I told her. "If you won't go rest somewhere else, then I will stay here and take care of you."

"You're as stubborn as your brother," she complained.

"Uh-huh, he learned it from me. Mum said I was stubborn as a hippogriff even in the womb." Harry and I stood and went to the arm chairs across from her sofa. She was my sister-in-law and I wasn't about to leave her alone looking as poorly as she did. Harry grabbed a few files to review before setting down next to me.

"Wait," Seph called from the couch, her eyes closed again. "Today was draft announcement day in the Quidditch league. Why are you here?" Harry looked at me surprised as well, but I just smiled.

"I don't want to be anywhere else," I explained.

"Ginny, you should be up in Holyhead," Harry protested. "They're going to be looking for you."

"No, they won't." I plainly stated.

"Of course they are," he gently rebuked. "You were the best Chaser on the prospective team. You scored more goals than two of the girls ON the team. Of course they're going to be looking for you!"

"Harry, they're not looking for me, because they already found me this morning. I went up at seven o'clock with my Dad. They'd located me by quarter past. I made the team!"

"Ginny, that's brilliant!" he exclaimed, throwing the papers off his lap and jumping up to pull me into an all out hug which turned into a swing. My body felt as limp as a rag doll while Harry was holding me, my feet a good foot from the ground. "Congratulations, love." The snog which he rewarded me with was rather memorable as well.

"Don't mind the pregnant lady on the couch," Seph finally called and I made Harry put me down.

"Sorry about that, Seph."

"Not that big of a deal, really," she said in a near monotone. "I'm sure Harry's told you of some of our exploits he's encountered."

"Er, I try not to listen. I really don't want to know what any of my brothers are like when they're getting their groove going," I explained which caused Seph to snort.

"That's the best euphemism I've heard for it. Charlie definitely has a great groove -"

"More than enough, Seph!" Harry interrupted. "I've got a surprise for you. Wait right here." Harry dashed from the room, but before I'd recovered enough to ask where he might have gone, he was back, a beer bottle in his hand.

"Here," he stated, pushing the bottle into my hands. It was already opened, mist rising out of the top. "Look at the label."

I held the bottle away from me and smiled. "Harry this is amazing and wonderful. Thank you so much. I love it, and I love you." This was a new beer; _Chaser__'__s__Choice_. The artwork on the bottle was of the back of a red-headed witch riding a broom, wearing a green jumper.

"You always believed, didn't you?" I asked Harry, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"There was never any doubt in my mind, Gin. You can do anything you put your heart and mind to. You should like the beer, too. It's a Dark Ordinary, along the vein of beers you enjoy. Couldn't have you not liking the one I made for you," he gushed. I wrapped my arms around him and snogged him again.

"Oh Lord, that's not beer I smell, is it?" Seph groaned from the couch, and I realized Harry and I both had open bottles, in her little scent free haven. "Shite," she complained before summoning the rubbish bin.


	39. Chapter 39

**Author's Note: Well, here it is, the end of the story. There may or may not be an Epilogue. I have written it, I just don't know if it's necessary as it adds nothing to the plot. There will be a sequel, tentatively called _The Brewmasters Mystery_ and I will begin writing it after the first of the year, with plans to begin posting mid-February. For those of you reading my other story, I will be working on _Growing Up with Mum and Dad_ and posting for that tale immediately. Please put me on Author alert so you know when _TBM_ will begin posting.**

**I am very sorry I haven't responded to reviews from the last chapter, there has been some sort of glitch in FF, and I haven't been able to respond. As soon as I can respond, I will. If you have the Personal Messaging feature disabled, however, I can't reply to your reviews at all. **

**Thanks to my remarkable team: Arnel, Stephanie, Peter and Ben. Peter has been a wealth of knowledge about beer, Stephanie pre-reads and generally acts as my cheerleader. Arnel is my beta extraordinary, and not only keeps my spelling and grammatical errors to a minimum, but generally keeps me sane. I have been so blessed to have her in my professional and personal life. Ben is my dear husband, and it's only because of his love that I write at all. It takes a great man to love a woman like me.**

**One last commercial reminder, my original novel: _The Faerie Queen Chronicles: Ascension _is available through Amazon and makes a great Christmas gift for the fantasy reader on your list. Commercial done.**

**Again, thanks to all of you who are reading, who've put me on alert or favorited this story. It humbles me and makes me proud to be a writer of HP FanFiction. JKR has created an amazing playground that I can't believe I get to have fun in. **

**The song is by Christian Perri, and I love, love, love this song. When you find love like this, hold onto it, because there's nothing quite like it. Here it is, the end of MMB, enjoy.**

**MN Feathers**

**Chapter 39:**

**A Thousand Years**

**August 25, 1999**

**Harry POV:**

"Ginny, everything looks lovely, stop worrying so much," I tried to calm her, but I doubted it was working. This was the first time our families were going to see the house we had bought outside of Holyhead, Wales. I couldn't move in with her yet, I still had to live with Seph, well, I had to sleep there; I spent my days here with Ginny and she often came back to the farm with me at night. It was only two more months, and I had already sworn to everyone I would never do anything which could put me into this position again. If I were pressed to admit it, though, I enjoyed living with the family: the same size as the Dursleys, living with the Charlie Weasleys was much more enjoyable.

"I just want people to see we're serious about this, that we are grown up," she explained. I knew just how she was feeling, since I sometimes felt as if I were in a limbo of sorts; not a man, but certainly not a child. Mrs. Weasley had pitched a fit when Ginny told her we were getting a house together. It wasn't just that we were doing this without being married, which certainly displeased her. No, this was the last of her children leaving home. Ron and Hermione had found a flat in London, George was back in his flat over the shop on Diagon Alley, Percy had his place not far from the Ministry and Charlie and Bill were married. All of her children were grown and had left home very quickly; Ginny bore the brunt of it.

"Ginny, sweetheart, we are grown up. We both have jobs, a mortgage, savings accounts. Heck, we even do our own laundry without having it turn strange colours, which is more than Percy can say," I jokingly reminded her of his pink shirts. You don't wash ties, even I knew this, and you certainly don't wash them with your dress shirts.

"You're right, although, Percy did look awfully cute in pink. Brought out the rosy tinge to his nose," she joked along, smiling as she did. I took her in my arms and kissed her resoundingly.

"Love, we're going to be fine. Your mum is going to fall in love with this house, especially the kitchen," I reminded. While we didn't cook all that often, when we did we had the best space for it; large, white and with more cupboards than we could fill. The kitchen and the huge garden sold us on this house.

"She is," Ginny confirmed. "I just hope she's not upset with the food we're having. I only had to bring it home from the tap room and charm it to temperature."

"Don't worry about it, no one except for Seph has tried any of it, since it's all off the new fall menu," I reminded. "We really do need opinions on the new dishes. Everyone will be helping me with my business."

"Sure, sell it to them like that," she teased before kissing me again. The first rustlings of the Floo alerted us to our guests' arrival. The small footsteps of Connor told us it was Charlie and Seph.

"Harry, Harry, wherwa awre you?" Connor called out from the dining room, where we'd opened up one of the closed fireplaces and attached it to the Floo network. I stepped out of the kitchen, into the hall, and then back into the room next door, greeting my favourite little guy.

"I'm right here," I called to him as I stepped into the room. He ran over, his little broom in hand, and hugged my legs.

"I miss you, Harry."

"You saw me less than four hours ago. I came home for lunch since Ginny was at work," I reminded.

"I knowa, but dat's a wong time. I's only two and a hawf." He'd recently become adamant about adding that extra half year.

"Believe me, we all know how old you are, Connor," I deadpanned back, making me feel like his straight man as the other three laughed at our antics. "What are you wearing?" I asked as I got a good look at his outfit.

"Welwa, I hadda weara gween becawse of Ginny's team, and I hadda weara my drawgon boots becawse of Daddy Charlwie and I hadda wear my big brofer shirt becawse of de baby AND Mummy made me weara a hat becawse we's gonna be outswide and she worrwied I get a bwurn." He seemed a little exasperated at telling us everything. Of course, his answer only went so far to explain his unique look this afternoon. Red short trousers, long sleeve green shirt with a dark blue _I__'__m__the__big__brother_ tee shirt over the top and the floppy yellow hat on his head. The grey dragon hide boots and strange little black and yellow cape truly added to the oddness.

"He dressed himself," Charlie whispered at me. "Apparently, Seph says it fosters creativity to let him wear what he wants, as long as it's weather appropriate," he sort of shrugged, looking a tad embarrassed at how his kid looked.

"I's also wearing underpants, just like Daddy Charlwie's, only in my size!" Connor was quite proud of this. Charlie blushed, causing Ginny and me to laugh. Only Seph was unfazed by her son's declaration.

"Yes, you are. But, remember what that means, you have to tell us when you need to use the loo," she reminded him and Connor nodded enthusiastically.

"Did you bring my O's?"

"I did," Seph confirmed as she handed her son a small Muggle baggie filled with the O-shaped cereal. Connor took off for the ground floor loo we'd put in where a utility room used to be.

"Where did he get the hat?" Ginny asked.

"Mum and Dad's," Charlie said. "Apparently, he insisted he wear it today when Seph told him he had to have a hat to go outside. He had to Floo to Grammy and Pappy's to get it from them." Ginny smiled at the nicknames Connor had picked out for his new grandparents. Hearing it came from the Burrow reminded Ginny why it looked familiar.

"That was my hat," she exclaimed! "I wore it when I was like five. It was under my bed. How did he find it?"

"He's closer to the floor. The things he locates are sometimes frightening," Seph answered. "Can we please sit down, my feet are killing me? I was on them far too long this morning."

"Perhaps if you hadn't worn those shoes earlier, you'd be feeling better now," Charlie suggested even as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist. Seph had an obvious bump in her middle, like she's swallowed a Quaffle.

"It wasn't the Louboutin's fault," Seph corrected. "It was standing in court that did me in. We never should have been called in the first place."

"What happened with the case?" Ginny asked as we sat down.

"They dismissed it, just like Chris assumed they would. I'm just waiting to see what my sister tries next," Seph quietly answered. Her next oldest sister, Philomena had attempted to have their mother's will broken, as Seph had gotten married and thereby negated her need to have the family farm and peerages remain in her name. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

We happily agreed to her wishes, and were soon joined by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Bill, Fleur and Victoire. When Fleur had excused herself to look at the upstairs with Ginny, Bill and Charlie set Connor up to hold the littlest Weasley, claiming he needed practice for when his sibling arrived.

"I's doing it, Daddy," Connor cheered, awakening two-month-old Victoire from her nap. Bill immediately picked his daughter up, having heard Fleur yell down at him, asking if everything was alright. "I dinna mean to make her crwy." Connor looked close to tears himself.

"Connor, you didn't do anything wrong," Bill explained. "Babies cry a lot. It's their way of telling the grown-ups something is wrong. She was just surprised to be woken up, and needed to let us know." Connor looked up at his uncle and smiled. "See, she's calming down already."

"Sanks, Unca Bill," he cried before wiggling off the sofa and running out the door to the back garden. Thankfully, we lived in the wizarding neighbourhood, so Connor could fly without us having to cast charms to keep him hidden. His little training broom flew low and slow, but it was still a start. The women soon rejoined us, their conversation was of great interest to me.

"So, the nursery upstairs," Mrs. Weasley questioned, "that's for your nieces and nephews, correct?"

"Yes, Mum," Ginny nearly screamed, mortified. "Connor has already come over and taken his nap here one day. We just wanted to be prepared should anyone need to utilize our sitting services."

"We will take you up on that," Bill quickly replied. "I think my wife and I need a date." Fleur looked concerned. "Fleur, sweetheart," Bill said while walking over to her, holding their daughter in one arm while he wrapped the other around his wife, "she's almost two months old. You can leave her long enough to have some supper, maybe a little shopping?" She softened at this suggestion.

"Perhaps," she noncommittally answered. "It would be nice to have some dresses which fit me properly."

"Whenever you want, we are more than happy to help," Ginny confirmed as she came over and sat down on my lap. She then had to bounce back up as Hermione and Ron came through the Floo with George. We were only waiting for Percy and Audrey, who had been out looking at flowers for their wedding. They would be married in late October. It was the fifth wedding we had in the next few months. While I hadn't pressed Ginny on the issue, I truly did wish the date for ours was set.

Hermione came in and flopped down on the wingback I had brought from Grimmauld Place. The London house would be empty now, save for Kreacher who insisted he remain at the ancestral home of the Blacks. While it had been a fine place for Ron and me, the girls hadn't ever been comfortable there and it certainly wasn't someplace I wanted to make our permanent home. I would continue to care for it, and then when he was old enough, I'd give it to Connor. By birthright, he was the last of the Blacks. I did, however, take some of the furniture to use around this place.

"You look tired, Hermione."

"I am," she confirmed as she laid her head back against the rest. "We moved the last of the stuff from my parents' house and Grimmauld Place today. I also was able to go to Diagon Alley and get the last of my law books."

"Did you and Chris have a chance to get together?" Seph asked and Hermione nodded.

"Mr. Houghton was very helpful. I still think I should go to law school, get my law degree in the Muggle world, as well as my wizarding apprenticeship, but he says I won't need it."

"He's correct," Seph confirmed. "I've only ever known two people to be barristers in both worlds, Andrew Potter and Chris. Unless you intend to argue cases in both courts, don't put yourself through the misery."

"Ah, but if there's a chance she could learn something, Hermione would do it to herself," Ron interjected as he came and sat on the arm of her chair. "She doesn't see revisions as torture." The comment earned him a push off the arm and onto the floor. His brothers all laughed at him.

"So have you decided what you're doing this fall, Harry?" Hermione asked me, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"I have told you, Hermione, I'm staying at the brewery, at least for another year. Seph is going to need to take a maternity leave. Someone should be running the place when that happens," I reminded her. She'd never been thrilled with my plan, thinking I needed to help direct the Ministry into its new era. I wasn't interested in politics, and the Auror school wouldn't be open for another year. I, and most of our friends, were staying put at the brewery.

"Oh, don't use me as an excuse. I only took eight days off when I had Connor, and then I just took him with me to work."

"Eight days?" Fleur barked. "I was still churched at eight days." She'd insisted she be part of some ancient custom where a new mother and baby didn't leave the house for forty days after birth.

"Well, I didn't have the luxury when Connor was born," Seph sadly interjected. "I'm hoping I can take a little more time off with this one, but we'll have to see. You might run the place amok while I'm gone." It was a joke, and I knew it. Seph and I had discussed it, and we trusted each other implicitly.

"I'll do no such thing," I replied with mock indignation. "You stay home, keep off your feet and enjoy your little one there." She nodded and smiled. Things were certainly different this time, and I was deeply thankful for the changes.

"So, Ginny, have you and Harry made any headway on picking a wedding date?" Hermione asked and I turned my head to look at Ginny. We hadn't even discussed it at all. Did Hermione know something I didn't?

"Well, Hermione," Ginny stated while glaring at her friend. "I told you what I thought I'd like to do. I just haven't had a chance to talk with Harry about it."

"Any day, whenever you want. Just name the date and time and place and I will be there, Ginny!"

"Isn't it usually the girl who wants to get married? Harry, you're a bloke!" Ron queried. The statement earned him a playful slap to his belly, which caused him to fall off the chair again.

"He's just anxious for the honeymoon," George suggested and both Ginny and I blushed, causing everyone else to bust out with riotous laughing. When we'd been embarrassed enough, I took her hands into mine.

"Truly, Ginny, any day and anywhere. I love you, and I just want to be married to you," I quietly repeated.

"How about Valentine's Day? It's a Monday, which is an odd day of the week to be married, but if we do it then, we can be married at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Back to where you proposed and all?" She sounded hesitant and her face was painted with concern. I pulled her into my embrace.

"That sounds absolutely perfect, love. Valentine's Day it is," I confirmed with a resounding kiss, which was then echoed by every other couple in the room.


	40. Chapter 40

**Author's Note: I had gone back and forth about posting this, since it's not intergal to the plot, but after much consideration, I decided my readers are worth it; and my beta Arnel said I should. There's a tissue warning, but they're happy tears. Thanks to all of you who are reading and reviewing, and I'll be back with the sequel in a couple of months. Thanks for everything, MNF**

**Epilogue:**

**Simple Gifts**

**September 16, 1999**

**Persephone POV:**

It wasn't often that I got a truly quiet moment like the one I was enjoying now. It was a perfect day, vibrant blue skies, only a few puffy clouds pocking the otherwise pristine expanse. The trees were still verdant and fully clothed in their green robes, the nip of fall not yet changing their costumes. Bird songs were carried on the breeze, and at my feet the grass felt warm and velvet soft. I'd removed my shoes so my toes could soak up the suns rays. I was also happy to let them free of their confines. Pregnancy was causing them to swell, and I was yet unwilling to accept the defeat of wearing flats or trainers. It wouldn't be too much longer though, the pregnancy was half over, and the second half was certainly more physically taxing than the first. So much had changed in my life from the last time I had celebrated my birthday. Thirty-nine was something I dreaded and avoided celebrating at all. Forty had me revelling in the day.

"Seph," Harry called, causing me to jump as I didn't hear him approaching. "What are you doing out here?" He walked the few steps from the back of the storage building to where I was sitting on the bank of Bury Lake. He sat down to my left, looked at my purple pedicured toes and removed his shoes as well. I hadn't noticed it until a few days ago, but gone were Harry's denim and trainers. He'd replaced his wardrobe bit by bit over the last months; now wearing pressed dress trousers and leather loafers with his company shirts. The changes in his outward appearance were reflections of just how far he'd come in the year we'd been working together.

"I couldn't pass up sitting out here today," I explained. "Charlie and Connor are picking me up early from work and taking me to dinner at the _Rose__and__Crown_. We're then headed to The Burrow for the surprise party."

Harry's face showed a quick flash of disappointment. "How did you find out?"

"Connor really isn't very good at keeping a secret," I explained. "That he didn't spill the beans about the baby for days was an aberration."

"We really did want to surprise you," he explained. "You do so much for other people we just wanted you to know we appreciate it."

I looked to my left, and took in Harry's face, really took it in. Where a year ago I had been able to see was his parents, today I saw him. He would always be a reflection of who they were, but along the way he'd also become his own man. I'd witnessed Remus and Sirius in him too in the past year. He would never appreciate it, but there were even glimpses of Eliza and Sibéal too; though those were accidental effects. So much of my friends was alive in these breweries, and Harry had absorbed all of it.

"Where are you?" he prodded.

Sighing, I replied, "Somewhere in the past," I answered.

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine how hard it is for you to be around the brewery and know they're not in there," he sympathized, but I shook my head at him.

"No, it's different now. These buildings, the beer, everything reminded me of what I had lost and the places where I'd failed. At least that's how it was," I stressed the last word. I wasn't sure if I could articulate this, but things had truly changed in me. "I don't feel that way anymore. Their spirits still dwell here, but ... they're not haunting it."

Harry looked as pensive as I felt, his eyes not trained on me while I was speaking, but instead on the water, and how the gentle breeze was rippling the water.

"Growing up, all I ever wanted were my parents, or at least someone to fill in that space. My heart was so empty and broken and ... the Weasley's did a fine job of trying to replace them, but they weren't my family. They were Ron and then Ginny's."

I reached over and rubbed his back, I knew what he was saying. Watching Charlie with his brothers made me miss my sisters and the relationships we had when we were girls. I knew I'd destroyed those relationships when I disappeared, but it didn't mean I missed them any less.

"Thanks for finally finding me," he said quietly.

"Harry, I always knew where you were," I whispered, my eyes filling with tears. "I loved you from the moment you were born."

"I know, and it was stupidity that kept us apart," he continued. "I had a destiny which had to be fulfilled. I've done it. I have no desire to be that person again. It was too hard and too painful. I couldn't let myself feel anything, because if I did the emotions were just too much."

"You don't have to be, sweetheart," I consoled him, continuing to rub circles on his back. "You can do or be anyone you want. You don't have to close yourself off or fight ever again, if that's what you want. The people who love you, we're going to love you regardless."

"The only other person who had ever hinted they loved me that unconditionally was Sirius," he explained. My lip curled upward through instinct. Sirius did love without conditions. I knew it better than anyone.

"I saw them, in the forest," he whispered.

"Who?"

"My parents, Sirius, Remus," he explained. "As I was walking in to face Voldemort, I saw them; well, apparitions of them, really. I told them I was frightened, but that wasn't really true. Honestly, I wasn't feeling anything at that point. I just needed to end it, end the battle and the running and ..."

"What you felt was normal, Harry. People shut down emotionally all the time. When situations get to be too much to handle -"

"I was thankful not to be feeling. I didn't want emotions anymore. I couldn't imagine what the point was. I had let myself love people and they kept being ripped from me. I didn't want to feel ever again after that night," he told me as a single tear fell from his face. "I found Ginny after the battle and there was just ... I thought I'd been broken beyond repair. I couldn't feel anything but relief that it was over."

"Oh, my dear boy." I whimpered, my heart breaking for him.

"I wasn't feeling anything when we met. When I discovered who you really were, who Connor was ... I was angry. Do you realize it was the first thing I'd honestly felt in six months?" His green eyes bore into mine as I shook my head.

"Ginny and I, we wouldn't have made it if you hadn't reached me then. I think she knew I was just there, not feeling anything. That week, Halloween week, once she'd gone back to school, I finally felt things I'd avoided. I grieved, I yelled, I threw things and railed against those who'd hurt me. When I was done, something surprising happened."

"What, dear? What happened?"

"After I'd slept, I woke up feeling content. The last time I remember feeling that way was Christmas my fifth year, when we celebrated at Grimmauld Place," he explained. It was a great Christmas. The memories caused me to smile.

"The burned bangers," I was able to get out before I snorted from trying to stifle my laugh.

"I know!" Harry sputtered as he began to laugh. "Was the pan saved?" I shook my head. We were both shaking with laughter, remembering Sirius' attempt at making a midnight snack. His cursing and having to extinguish the flames awoke the entire house. Harry leaned over and put his head on my shoulder, so I wrapped my arm around him and held him there as we laughed.

"You didn't feel anything?" I asked and he nodded. "Before I met you, I was feeling everything. I'd been swallowed whole by my emotions and was drowning in them. You coming into my life, it threw me a line."

"What do you mean?"

"You forgave me when I couldn't forgive myself," I explained. "I hated that I hadn't just taken you or insisted that your mum and dad live with me or stopped Sirius that night or gone with Remus to Hogwarts. Or … there were a million other things I could have done differently. The guilt had nearly devoured me. Letting me love you, it reminded me life can be good." We sat quietly, arms around each other, watching the clouds move across the sky.

"Oh," I spit out, my hand going to my belly.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, alarmed.

"Fine," I quickly replied. "Give me your hand." He did, and I placed it just below my bellybutton. "Just wait a second." Harry nodded and held still. We were both rewarded with a good swift kick.

"Was that the baby?" I nodded, happy tears flowing.

"It was," I confirmed. "So much better of a reminder Schmoo is growing than the morning sickness." Connor had given the baby its nickname, since we hated using the word "it". The only people who knew if Schmoo was a boy or girl were the family: Mummy, Daddy and the big brothers. Harry leaned his head down, so his lips were just above my shirt.

"Hello there, little Schmoo. It's your big, big brother, Harry. You'd better be good to your Mummy, sweetie, or we're going to have words when you get out here," he said. A dam broke and I began sobbing. Harry twisted his head to look at me. "You okay?"

"Pregnancy hormones suck," I explained as I waved.

"Sure, delude yourself there if you need to," he added with a smirk on his face. "Come on, we need to get back so you can act surprised later." Harry stood and then offered me both his hands so I could get up. I lifted my shoes and carried them back to the gravel before slipping my feet in. I grabbed onto his sleeve before we went in, pulling him into a fierce hug.

"Harry. I love you, I have loved you since you came into this world and I will love you into the next. I will always love you."

"Just like a mum," he said quietly. "I love you, too, Seph."


End file.
